It is important to know the cause behind every problem before seeking any solution. Most of the time, the human brain is the cause of every action. During social interaction, brain activities change our thought patterns due to which we sometimes hold ourselves back.
Here we are talking about Medial Prefrontal Cortex, this is a part of the human brain that activates when we are in any social situation or when people are observing us. We become self-conscious when this part of the brain is more active.
Anticipatory anxiety has been exaggerated in our society. Anticipatory anxiety is where a person experiences increased levels of anxiety by thinking about an event or situation in the future. Therefore, this is the reason we avoid to speak in public. Moreover, many biases prevent us from going out in social interaction.
Let’s discuss one of them:
Availability bias is one of the factors when we block new information to process for a better outcome. Here is an example from the European Journal of Natural Sciences and Medicine, “if you have a car accident, you are more likely to estimate the chances of having another car accident far higher than the real probability. A study by Karlsson, Loewenstein, and Ariely (2008), showed that people are more likely to buy insurance to protect themselves after a natural disaster they have just experienced than to buy insurance before the disaster happens.”
The same thing happens when we make mistakes while communicating. We make higher probabilities of speaking worst in front of people because of the negative experience and this is why we always avoid social interaction.
Preventions to avoid to social anxiety
- Take Criticism Productively – If you are not taking criticism productively then you are missing an opportunity to work more on your current skills. Most people take criticism as a threat or danger but it is that information for you that can help you to become a better version of yourself every day. Therefore, take criticism productively to enhance your skills.
- Positive Visualization – Successful people have a history of having positive visualization. This can help you a lot to prevent the worst effect of availability bias. If you cannot visualize yourself successful then nothing can help you to grow. If you can’t visualize yourself a wonderful communicator then you can never become what you want. Therefore, before you achieve something desirable, you need to visualize yourself as successful as you want.
