Anxiety is commonplace in life but it can overflow and cause anxiety disorders such as ‘social anxiety’. This is where an individual feels incredibly uncomfortable in social situations. This is so severe that they start to avoid these situations completely. The situations can range from small work meetings to large gatherings. It is important that businesses understand how this type of anxiety can affect their staff and going on Mental Health Training Courses is a great place to start.
When social anxiety first starts to creep in, there may only be subtle signs such as the individual becoming fidgety when surrounded with people. They may start to play with any jewellery that they are wearing. You may also notice that they like to sit by the door when they are in meetings as well as finding ways in which they can leave the meeting room. As this discomfort progresses they will start to avoid meetings all together.
In many cases the individual will consider that something is going to happen in the meeting that is leading to a feeling of fear. This fear becomes so real that they will no longer want to be in the meeting or situation in the first place. For some people this can come as a result of an incident that has happened in the past. Counselling and cognitive behavioural therapy can help to reframe the way that they think about these events.
