Have you heard about the "look up and around" technique? Well, this approach has helped quite a lot of my patients with social anxiety or agoraphobia break free.
If you are troubled by social phobia or agoraphobia, then the following characteristics will be well known to you.
A feeling of Intense self-focus
Never-ending sensation that folks are staring at you.
Amplified sense of worry.
Increased fear that people may see your anxiety as a weak point you have and then assault, ridicule or harm.
A feeling of shame that makes you to look away or look down quite often.
If you feel any of the above is recognizable to you, then you will benefit from using this technique.
So what's the technique?
This is it: Look up and look around any time you are in the general public. Get an idea of what people are really doing.
Now before you decide to quit on me and think this Idea is ineffective to you, permit me to encourage you to give the strategy a try out for at least 7 days.
Please don't make the mistake of assuming that the simplicity of this exercise means that it won't be of any use.
Think about this question. What is a reason why certain people look away in such circumstances?
Quite often, it may be because somehow, they think that there's a legitimate reason to feel embarrassed about. It's possibly because they feel ugly, fat, peculiar or too tall. Because of this, they tend to assume that the only reason people will look at them is really because people assume that they are peculiarly awful or that folks may make fun of them and probably point fingers.
Looking around and viewing exactly what is really transpiring around us regularly will assist us to challenge this belief in several ways.
One, we learn that only about 1% of the people we come across might look at us. The remaining people don't tend to care one bit. They are way too busy to see anything. Failing to look up and about frequently makes us conclude that the 1% is equal to 100% of the people we meet.
Secondly, the same act of looking away happens to make anxieties worse. Try this out:
Ask another person who can help you out with this (It works better if the colleague is someone you don't know too well).
Compile a collection of expressions, which include the things you believe people criticize you negatively on, afterwards get your supporter to pretend and read the sentences in a disdainful fashion twice (e.g. What an hideous looking girl). At the first read look away with your back facing your friend, whilst he/ she reads then at the next read turn back and face the friend.
You will notice that whilst your mate reads your list at you, looking away made you feel so much worse even if ever so slightly. This is so although you gave the colleague the sentence to read back to you. (I usually find that the effect of this experiment is clearer the higher the sense of shame is).
Now how can you take advantage of the ideas offered in this text?
The exercise tends to be more efficient if you are able to get another person to come with you. It is highly important that the person you opt for is objective so if you can, don't choose people who are too close to you. In addition, a pair of sun shades might help you feel much more confident to look around.
Have a note pad and a pen along. Prior to leaving make a speculation of how many individuals you feel will look at you. Then go and walk around a somewhat crowded street or shopping complex.
For everybody that looks at you, mark a tick down on the paper and for everyone who does not look at you, mark a star down.
Your findings will more than likely surprise you.
If you are troubled by social phobia or agoraphobia, then the following characteristics will be well known to you.
A feeling of Intense self-focus
Never-ending sensation that folks are staring at you.
Amplified sense of worry.
Increased fear that people may see your anxiety as a weak point you have and then assault, ridicule or harm.
A feeling of shame that makes you to look away or look down quite often.
If you feel any of the above is recognizable to you, then you will benefit from using this technique.
So what's the technique?
This is it: Look up and look around any time you are in the general public. Get an idea of what people are really doing.
Now before you decide to quit on me and think this Idea is ineffective to you, permit me to encourage you to give the strategy a try out for at least 7 days.
Please don't make the mistake of assuming that the simplicity of this exercise means that it won't be of any use.
Think about this question. What is a reason why certain people look away in such circumstances?
Quite often, it may be because somehow, they think that there's a legitimate reason to feel embarrassed about. It's possibly because they feel ugly, fat, peculiar or too tall. Because of this, they tend to assume that the only reason people will look at them is really because people assume that they are peculiarly awful or that folks may make fun of them and probably point fingers.
Looking around and viewing exactly what is really transpiring around us regularly will assist us to challenge this belief in several ways.
One, we learn that only about 1% of the people we come across might look at us. The remaining people don't tend to care one bit. They are way too busy to see anything. Failing to look up and about frequently makes us conclude that the 1% is equal to 100% of the people we meet.
Secondly, the same act of looking away happens to make anxieties worse. Try this out:
Ask another person who can help you out with this (It works better if the colleague is someone you don't know too well).
Compile a collection of expressions, which include the things you believe people criticize you negatively on, afterwards get your supporter to pretend and read the sentences in a disdainful fashion twice (e.g. What an hideous looking girl). At the first read look away with your back facing your friend, whilst he/ she reads then at the next read turn back and face the friend.
You will notice that whilst your mate reads your list at you, looking away made you feel so much worse even if ever so slightly. This is so although you gave the colleague the sentence to read back to you. (I usually find that the effect of this experiment is clearer the higher the sense of shame is).
Now how can you take advantage of the ideas offered in this text?
The exercise tends to be more efficient if you are able to get another person to come with you. It is highly important that the person you opt for is objective so if you can, don't choose people who are too close to you. In addition, a pair of sun shades might help you feel much more confident to look around.
Have a note pad and a pen along. Prior to leaving make a speculation of how many individuals you feel will look at you. Then go and walk around a somewhat crowded street or shopping complex.
For everybody that looks at you, mark a tick down on the paper and for everyone who does not look at you, mark a star down.
Your findings will more than likely surprise you.
About the Author:
Are you struggling to find a solution for your anxiety issues? This page on dealing with stress and anxiety might help.
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