Making friends can be challenging for anyone and the thought of meeting new people can feel daunting, especially throughout your teenage and adult years. While these situations can be difficult, feelings of self-consciousness, nervousness, and extreme shyness are amplified if you are dealing with social anxiety disorder. Despite struggling with social anxiety, there are strategies and techniques to help you overcome these intense worries so that you can begin to develop meaningful friendships throughout your life. If you are wanting to make friends and are unsure of where to start, you are not alone in these feelings. Building fulfilling and rewarding friendships starts with simple steps to overcome internal fears, and these tips can help propel you on your journey.
Create a Few Small Goals
If making friends feels overwhelming, you may want to start with making some small goals to ease you into social interactions. These goals can help you to feel more open to the thought of meeting new people and making friends, while still providing a relaxed environment for you to feel out your emotions in response to different social situations. Some simple goals you could make for yourself could include:
- Making eye contact with those around you
- Smiling or waving at peers
- Sending a text to a friend
These do not have to be big goals. Just simple goals to help you feel more confident with those around you. Taking these small steps can help you to feel empowered as you progress towards your goals of overcoming this anxiety to make meaningful friendships.
Try Different Social Situations
Having negative social experiences in the past or negative thoughts about social interactions can potentially be part of the anxiety that is holding you back from making friends. You can counter these thoughts and feelings by starting to be a part of positive social situations to help reframe your mindset through a positive social lens.
It may seem easier to avoid social interactions and situations, but stepping outside of your comfort zone can bring you experiences that will help to replace negative encounters you may have had in the past. Just being around new people can help make your circumstances less intimidating. Try different social situations that align with your hobbies, interests, or beliefs to make it easier to feel comfortable and feel like you have a way to connect. While you still may feel uncomfortable, exposure to different situations over time can begin to put your anxieties at ease.
Seek Support for Social Anxiety
While these tips can be a helpful step forward, making friends and creating these relationships takes time and still may be difficult. If these steps still feel too overwhelming and meeting new people still seems extremely intimidating, it may be helpful for you to seek support through counseling therapy services. All About You Therapy Services has counselors who know how to identify symptoms of social anxiety and understand different methods to aid in your journey toward overcoming these feelings. When your symptoms of social anxiety can be effectively addressed, you will be well on your way toward a healthier mind-frame that will make it easier to meet new people and create new friendships.
