Rahul* was extremely terrified of being in social situations and meeting new people to the extent that he would avoid social situations that required any sort of interaction. Feeling judged by others and anxious about being in social situations was prevalent since he was 20 years old. Now, at 23 his fear and anxious thoughts only progressively got worse. 

After taking an appointment with our psychologist at The Mind Research Foundation who recommended him to our clinical psychologist, found that he was suffering from social anxiety and was diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder. Once the diagnosis was made, Rahul* felt more comfortable because he knew what was happening and could put a name to his thoughts. He said that he was relieved to know that recovery was possible and was receptive and willing to put in the effort. 

Once we went in-depth into his concerns, he revealed that he didn’t have that much difficulty having one-on-one conversations with someone and only felt uncomfortable. He found it extremely difficult to deliver presentations or speak publicly and he had a few coming up soon. Initially, our psychologist suggested some mindfulness exercises like deep breathing and JPMR (Jacobson Progressive Muscle Relaxation), a muscle relaxation exercise to reduce stress. 

In the next few sessions, they practiced public speaking on random topics for specific times and had constructive feedback from both persons. The psychologist found that she had more positive feedback to give compared to Rahul’s* feedback. Noticing this, our psychologist psycho-educated him saying that the more he magnifies his negative thoughts and evaluations, the more anxiety it’ll cause him. It was also pointed out to him that something like avoiding eye contact and preparing the conversations in his head only hindered his performance even though it served him well at some point in his life. 

Along with all this, he was also given homework to practice giving lectures on random topics with people he was comfortable with. As the sessions progressed, he felt more comfortable and confident with talking to new people, presenting, and public speaking. Role plays, an explanation of assertiveness, and how to be assertive were taken up further reducing anxiety. Rahul’s* self-image also drastically improved once his rates of anxiety started diminishing. 

(*name changed for anonymity)