What are the Main Symptoms of Social Anxiety and Shyness

If you suffer from social anxiety and shyness you may frequently wonder why you find social situations so difficult. Is it because you experienced some psychological trauma, or is it that you have failed to develop good social skills. In fact it is more to do with a genetic predisposition to developing certain personality traits. These traits have a tendency to make you hypersensitive to worrying about what other people may be thinking of you.

Here are some of the thought patterns that you may recognize that can paralyze you in social situations:

More anxiety about someone noticing your anxiety than about having the anxiety in the first place.

Dread of situations in which you could not easily disappear from the spot light if you needed to.

People thinking you are, "quiet," when that's not the real you.

Being afraid that someone will notice that your voice is shaking, your hand is sweating, your face is blushing, or some other physical sign of anxiety.

Wanting to speak up and show people how interesting and smart you can be, only to find that the thought of speaking upis enough to start your heart pounding or your breath to feel like it's been sucked out of you.

Although you may possess the particular personality traits that are responsible for social anxiety and shyness, but it does not mean that you have a life sentence. You can train yourself to beat this and function as you would want to. With exercises that challenge your usual pattern of thinking, you can re-train your brain into functioning differently in social situations, ultimately freeing you from social anxiety and shyness.