While the holidays can be a joyous time, the celebrations themselves can be stressful, especially if you have social anxiety. For those with a social anxiety disorder or SAD, social interactions can cause fear, nervousness, self-consciousness, and embarrassment. Additional symptoms may include excess fear of situations in which one may be judged, worry about shame or humiliation, or concern about offending someone, making navigating conversations or gatherings challenging during the holidays. Juggling busy schedules, events, and holiday parties with multiple personalities can make the holidays understandably less jolly for those with the disorder. Even though social anxiety can’t magically disappear in time for the holidays, there are ways to combat it so that you can experience enjoyable celebrations. Here are several methods to ease your social anxiety during the holidays.
Become aware of your social anxiety:
If you feel like you may be suffering from the symptoms highlighted above, it’s best to learn more about the physical and psychological aspects of anxiety and how you may be relating to it. With a trusted friend, partner, or confidant, or more preferably a therapist, think through your social anxiety by asking yourself: What triggers you when you’re around people? How are you beginning to feel uncomfortable, and why? By doing that exercise, you can quickly identify situations that might make you uncomfortable ahead of time to avoid them.
Curate talking scripts ahead of time:
A significant part of social anxiety disorder is worried about feeling judged, criticized, or ridiculed by others in social situations, even if that’s not the case. To ease your social anxiety, try creating talking scripts or topics for light conversation before the holiday event or party. Having a script that outlines what you will say when casually mingling with others can help you feel less anxious while allowing you to keep the conversation flowing naturally and easily.
Establishing boundaries:
While the purpose of easing your social anxiety is to get you more out of your shell, it’s perfectly fine and healthy to know your limits. If you feel uncomfortable speaking with someone at a holiday event, it’s okay to pivot away from the conversation or leave early. Before attending any celebration during the holidays, it’s essential to know your limits and your boundaries of interactions.
Open up:
Speak to your family and friends about your social anxiety disorder so you can get the support you need, whether it looks like them showing up with you to holiday celebrations to ease your anxiety disorder or becoming creative with ways to help you become more social over time.
It’s not OK not to attend:
If attending holiday gatherings, events, or parties makes you uncomfortable during this season, it’s perfectly fine to spend quality time with yourself at home. Only participate if you feel comfortable.