As the Coronavirus restrictions begin to ease, many of us are excited about getting back to normal, and being able to mix and socialise again, but for others who suffer with social anxiety the opening up plans are creating a heightened state of panic. 

We can all relate to social anxiety in some way, perhaps nervousness around meeting someone new, or walking into a room full of strangers, and with the opening up of restrictions you could experience nerves around coming out of the pandemic, asking yourselves questions like “Do i look good enough, will my friends still want to see me, or, have i achieved enough during lockdown”.

And this leads to more negative thoughts, which in turn leads to more anxiety.

“For many sufferers of social anxiety throughout the lockdown periods, they have not had to confront their anxiety in any way, they’ve been able to stay at home in their own comfort zone, locked away from the the outside world. With the opening up of restrictions these very real social anxieties are back in the forefront of peoples minds, and some will have found their symptoms have ramped up recently; others might be feeling this for the first time. Many people have reported their confidence has taken a battering during lockdowns.

All socially anxious people have different reasons for dreading certain situations, you can experience symptoms and getting anxious immediately before an event, or you might spend weeks worrying about it, then afterwards you could spend a lot f time and mental energy worrying about how you acted.

Feelings of social anxiety can be mitigated by the following:
Be conscious of the “worry story” you tell yourself - and try to distance yourself from it;

Recognise and dump the negative thoughts, replace them with a positive ones

Write down the good things, the things you are looking forward to,
Spend at least one hour per day doing something that makes you feel good

Spending years helping people to cope with, and reduce their social anxiety. The techniques I teach my clients, whatever the trigger for their condition, can also be applied successfully in this current pandemic. I’d encourage anyone who is feeling stressed or anxious, to download my free session and see if it helps.”

The 15-minute English-language audio recording can be accessed from any computer or device, and simply requires the listener to be settled in a safe, and quiet space, where they can fully engage with my words.

Even just taking 15 minutes out of your day to focus on yourself, rather than the latest virus news update, can help you regain a sense of balance and focus. It’s all about relaxing your mind, deflecting the negative thoughts, and replacing them with calm, positive ones.

Try to schedule a ‘worry window’, so you can better manage any negative thoughts and feelings by containing them in a predetermined time slot, and free up the rest of your day by banishing intrusive thoughts.

To some degree it’s natural to worry, and we all do it – it’s how our brain handles problems or potential problems, but it stops being useful if we become stuck in a cycle of negative thoughts. We should instead focus on those things within our control, and how we choose to respond to them.

This pandemic has had many repercussions beyond the actual virus. One is the potential impact on mental health and wellbeing. And if I can help ease that stress in just a small way, I believe it’s worthwhile trying.”

To access my free self esteem download, visit www.essex-hypnosis.co.uk/downloads