Most people don’t know the difference between
a social anxiety attack and a real panic attack.
In this article I will inform you on what the
difference is between the two and I’ll also give you some advice on how to deal
with, and overcome a social anxiety “attack”.
A Social Anxiety Attack
I was about 17 years old and was at a house
party of one of my friends. She was about to leave the country for a long trip
to a few countries in South America. Because of this it was one of those
parties that, even though I wanted to, I definitely could not avoid…
It was the beginning of the party and I was
trying to get drunk as soon as possible so I could feel a bit more at ease. We
were standing outside the house in sort of a circle.
The subject of conversation went to sex. I
wasn’t participating because I tried to avoid these conversations as I was
still a virgin. But I couldn’t help but overhearing someone asking my friend if
I was still a virgin.
To which my friend replied that she had to ask
it to me personally…
People were watching and listening to the girl
asking my friend about my (lack of) sexual experience and at the moment the
girl turned to me and asked me if I was still a virgin.
All attention was on me…
That was when I experienced a social anxiety
attack.
Which is basically a state of heightened
anxiety and an adrenaline rush that accompanies it.
This heightened anxiety causes you to
experience an abundance of
social anxiety symptoms and your mind “goes
blank”.
Now a social anxiety attack feels really
intense. And you want to get away from the situation as fast as possible.
This is where it is similar to a panic attack.
When you have a panic attack, you experience
some of the same things as when you experience a social anxiety attack.
You have a very, very intense feeling of
anxiety and you want to get away from the situation as fast as possible.
Where Social Anxiety Attack And Panic Attack
Are Different
The big difference with experiencing a panic
attack, is that you very strongly believe that the “attack” you experience
means that there’s something physically wrong with you.
While when you experience a social anxiety
“attack” you merely believe there’s something emotionally wrong with you. You
fear becoming embarrassed and are overwhelmed by emotions. Emotions that you
try to fight.
You might think “I’m panicking”, but you don’t
believe you are going to die of physical ailments.
In a panic attack however, people fear that
they are having a heart attack, that they’re about to lose all control, or that
they’re turning crazy.
Some believe that because they can’t catch
their breath they’re suffocating. Or that the dizziness and “unreal” feeling
they experience means that they have a terrible undiagnosed illness.
These people with a panic attack are only
imagining this however, because when they go to the hospital for check-ups they
find that they are perfectly healthy. It is the anxiety in the panic attack
that causes them to think like that.
So the big difference between a social anxiety
attack and a panic attack is that the people that have a panic attack fear they
have a physical, medical disease.
And when you have a social anxiety attack you
don’t believe this. You just experience a lot of social anxiety symptoms and
feel very intense anxiety.
My Advice For Dealing With A Social Anxiety
Attack
It is difficult to give good advice for
dealing with this.
What happens is your anxiety is extremely
high. And techniques with releasing your emotions don’t work that fast when you
are in the moment, experiencing a full-blown attack.
The best you can do is while you are having
the attack is to accept that you are having it. Don’t fight it.
Fighting it makes you get entangled in all the
emotions and negative thinking and makes the intensity of your anxiety stay for
longer because you are “putting oil on the fire”.
Just try to breath deeply and tell yourself
that it’s OK. Assure yourself that it’s just an intense emotion and that it
will subside quickly.
Accept that where you are right now, having a
social anxiety attack, is where you are right now. From here on you can work
forward to solving your social anxiety.
The overall best advice I can give you is to
get help in solving your social phobia. And to use all the techniques,
mindsets, attitudes, advice and strategies on this site.
Work on overcoming your social phobia with all
the power you have in you. Don’t give up until you have achieved your goal and
it’s inevitable you will eventually reach your goal.
“When life knocks you down you have two
choices- stay down or get up”
Tom Krausse
No comments:
Post a Comment