Experts offer students advice on social anxiety and avoidance habits
As students return to university, experts offer practical ways to recognise social anxiety and challenge the habits that can accompany it.
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Neil Greening, chair of the Social Anxiety Alliance UK, told the BBC that feeling shy in unfamiliar situations is common. Social anxiety becomes more of a concern when it stops someone doing things, he said. Keeping quiet, giving short answers or staying at the edge of a group can be signs that someone is struggling, though those behaviours alone do not identify a condition. [1]
Prof David Clark, a University of Oxford psychologist, suggests paying attention to the conversation rather than monitoring yourself. He advises trying small actions, such as asking a question in a meeting, and seeing what happens. He also recommends dropping habits such as rehearsing every sentence or avoiding eye contact, and trying not to repeatedly revisit perceived mistakes afterwards. [1]
The BBC also spoke to Mary, a pseudonymous former student who received NHS cognitive behavioural therapy after her undergraduate degree. She said the treatment helped her. [1]
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