C04. Fear of being in front of people, social anxiety disorder

TOC

Athletes who perform in front of others can sometimes get nervous.

For athletes, the results of their performance have a big impact on their value as an athlete. And sometimes they receive not only praise but also excessive criticism. Therefore, it is not surprising that athletes feel anxious about failing when performing in front of others and what others think of them. Although it is often thought that athletes are used to performing in front of others, they may feel nervous about being in front of others and be sensitive to others' evaluations.

We feel anxiety when we try to do something in a situation where we are in the limelight ( social situations). However, this anxiety is excessively strong in people with social anxiety disorder. They become overly anxious because they believe that the people around them are negatively evaluating them, calling them "stupid" or "weird." They may feel anxiety and fear not only about conspicuous actions such as giving a speech in front of others, but also about simply eating in a group or waiting in line at the cash register.

The background to this excessive behavior can sometimes be a result of past experiences where you were embarrassed by your behavior in front of others. For example, when you were in junior high school, you were asked to read from your textbook and your face turned red , or you got stuck halfway through, or your mind went blank while you were reading and you didn't know what you were doing, and you wondered if everyone thought of you negatively, like "I'm weird" or "I'm no good."

Then, from then on, the person will develop the belief that "I am the kind of person who will be embarrassed when I try to do something in front of others because I can't do it well again, " and when they try to do something in front of others, they will predict that they will be rejected and become anxious, and they will perform while feeling that "they are thinking negatively of me." Then, they will think, "They thought I was weird again, I was embarrassed," and this will reinforce the belief that "I am the kind of person who will be embarrassed when I try to do something in front of others because I can't do it well again," and they will fall into a vicious cycle.

When people experience excessive anxiety or fear only when performing in front of others, this is called performance-limited anxiety .

[Tip]

If you were the one watching, what would you think of that person?

Do other people feel the same way you do and that there's nothing wrong with it?