Self-Consciousness - What Is It and How to Overcome It
Many people feel self-conscious for various reasons. Some only feel this around a particular group of people or in specific situations. It is normal for a person to feel self-conscious every now and then. However, for individuals with social anxiety disorder, self-consciousness soars to extreme levels to the point where they totally lose focus on what they are doing.
Social anxiety disorder doesn’t only influence a specific group. Anyone can suddenly experience extreme self-consciousness. It can be experienced even by the most confident person. Social anxiety disorder often come out of the blue or is triggered by a traumatic experience.
Self-consciousness as an effect of social anxiety can lower and demean any person’s self-confidence. This results in extreme difficulty dealing with social situations. If you suffer from self-consciousness as an effect of social anxiety, there are many ways to approach this challenge. Though you can do immediate change on your outside appearance to hide your self-consciousness, your major focus must start from within. An individual’s body language and facial expression reflect the status of his self-consciousness and self-confidence. If you are constantly stressed and tense, you will find it hard to keep control of things and project self-confidence. Situations and challenges are hard to face when you lose control.
If you are tired of anxiety, like self-consciousness in this case, taking control of your life, you need to start doing something to overcome its symptoms. Find ways to discover your inner confidence. You can join a community or church group and participate in their activities. You need to learn to put yourself in social settings. Don’t limit yourself to life of isolation and loneliness just because you feel self-conscious. If you’re worried that you will get judged, start in a safe setting, like staying with people that you know. It helps to open up to someone, like your family members, friends, church pastor, counsellor or a professional. Rest assured that they will be there to lend a helping hand and guide you along the way.
The best way to battle self-consciousness is to face it and acknowledge it. Determine the root and cause of your anxiety so you can prepare yourself ahead. Use positive self-talk, breathe deeply or focus on a particular object; these are just some of the effective ways which will help calm your nerves. Keep in mind, never let social anxiety control you. Find ways to solve the problem and put an end to feeling extremely self-conscious. Don’t let self-consciousness defeat you; this is the only way for you to be able to live your life to the fullest.
Just a side note: When going through self-consciousness, realize that people around you have all sorts of problems. Keep you eyes off yourself and start helping people around you. Look at some people and see the terrible things they are going through. We all know at least one person that is less fortunate than we are. So focus on that person - become friends with them - and help them. This will help you focus less on yourself and more on them.