What Is The Root Cause of Social Anxiety?

[eTorro]

Hello.

I've been battling social anxiety my whole life, not to mention that I'm feeling intensely awkward when I interact with other people.

Where do social anxiety and awkwardness come from? Although I'm meditating on a daily basis for the past three years, I still don't understand the root cause of it.

It is highly probable that I'm creating it — when I'm about to meet with people, I begin to feel nervous two hours before the meeting. And when I interact, I'm so anxious; my heart is beating and my awkwardness amplifies.

It is a feeling that is taking over me, despite the fact that I'm fully conscious of it — I see it clearly behind the back of my mind and I feel it strongly in my stomach area.

Maybe I'm making irrational judgments that I'm not good enough at socializing and that I'll be perceived as being weird. I'm also overthinking everything and planning what I'm about to say in advance.

I had a turbulent childhood. Trauma, alcohol in the family, and a cold, depressed mother.

It is difficult to see how I'm generating anxious feelings, including awkwardness. Or maybe I'm not responsible for those feeling while they get triggered by themselves? Perhaps they have their own autonomy and inertia.

Or when I see a girl that I like strongly, I'm getting a lot of anxiety in my stomach area. Why? I think it is because I have an intense fear of being rejected.

I would like your thoughts on this — I have to explore multiple perspectives.

Thank you!

[decentralized]

For me it was lack of self confidence. Spending time with people who don't judge me while I'm being authentic helped a lot. I'm still not a social butterfly because I don't socialize with people if I don't like them.

[Random witch]

I think that the root cause is shame. Shame is uncomfortable feeling that we want to avoid, some of us are more comfortable with feeing shame in social situations while others are very sensitive to shame in social situations and are fearful of being criticized, feeling rejected or be misunderstood and are trying to avoid it in any cost because it leads to feelings of shame. 

I think that people who suffer from social anxiety should look at their feelings of shame, ask themselves why they feel so much shame about themselves, when they began to feel that way (maybe something in childhood?) and practice exposure to those situations that triggers shame in them.

It won't cancel the shame from your system because shame is something that all humans have, but it would make you feel more comfortable with feelings of shame.

Make feeling more comfortable with shame as your goal.

 

Also, work on your trout chakra and balance it. Imbalanced trout chakra is common among people who suffer from social anxiety.

 

 

 

 

[Preety_India]

Genetics has a huge role to play. 

My family has a long history of it.