The Fear of Meeting People

The fear of meeting people begins far in the deep recesses of the mind. No one quite knows the reasons why some people develop this strong fear of meeting people in their social surroundings, though doctors try to understand fully the genesis of it in a certain person's life. Fear can stem from multiple ideas in the mind of someone who has been down and out for the majority of his or her life; this person may have been dealt terrible hands along the way in life, so much that any interaction with people will remind them of the horrendous shortcomings they have yet to gain control over.

Anxiety is something that affects over 18% of the entire population of the United States. Social Anxiety or social anxiety disorder (SAD for short) accounts for 6.8% of anxiety disorders all together, so it stands to reason that many of you have a fear of meeting new people. Don't be to alarmed by those statistics, because I am here to tell you that there is hope, if you care enough to help yourself, which will in turn provide the confidence to seek out and help others, I hope.

So, what are some of the ways that you can get over your social phobia? Knowledge and research, repetition as well as experience are the key ingredients to fighting the illness. Sure, doctors and therapists can help you talk about your fears and get them down on paper, but, their solution will most likely consist of having you put yourself out there and staying in the situation that causes the heightened state of anxiety to occur. Each day, put yourself in a situation that you are uncomfortable with, breath in and out deeply (which calms the nerves), fight the urge to flee, embrace the shaking and keep the confidence that you know you have deep down inside of you. Yes, this will wear out your body so get some good rest afterwards, when you wake up the next day, get out there and do it again, this time talk to more people, laugh when and if you do something dumb, shrug it off! Of course, it's easy for me to sit here and tell you this because I am on the other side of it, but, trust me Anxiety is something that can be controlled over time, maybe not conquered completely; it definitely won't kill you.

For years, I have suffered from Depression and Anxiety, the time that it began escapes my memory, though I suspect it was around my junior year in high school when I noticed changes in my body, a beautiful girl would walk by and my neck would twitch and shake. Debate class had begun and it was nearing my turn for the rebuttal, I started off the rebuttal with questions I had written down, for a few minutes they came off without a hitch. All of a sudden it hit me, the fast beating heart and profuse sweat pouring from my body, the class room looked dark, what was this? I couldn't speak, I couldn't remember anything. Simply put, it was anxiety at its finest.

Get out there and meet people, go grab a Starbucks and tell a funny story to someone in line or use a simple one liner, "how about those Dodgers?" Gaining confidence in the solitude of your home and every step you take towards the social interaction grow that confidence so that when the time comes you will be ready for your glorious moment. End the stigma forget the fear of meeting people and focus on sharing something random with someone new. With all that said, I haven't had too much fear with meeting new people, in fact, I thrive in situations and interactions with strangers, mostly. However, if I see someone a few times, yet still haven't really met, but have had some contact in the past, that is when my anxiety sparks up for some reason.

By Parker Douglas Townsend

The Fear of Meeting People 2015-06-11T16:28:00-07:00 Rating: 4.5 Diposkan Oleh: Admin