By Selective mutism is one of the most misunderstood childhood anxiety disorders. A child with selective mutism may speak freely at home or with a close trusted friend, but may become silent or feel unable to speak in other environments such as school, social gatherings, or public places. To outside observers, it can look like stubbornness or defiance. In… Continue reading
By Do you often feel like you don’t fit in? Do you think others see you as an outcast or strange? Do you struggle to form deep and meaningful connections? If so, you may have a social isolation schema. This schema can lead to social anxiety and avoidance along with other problems.
While many of us feel like we don’t fit in sometimes, with a social… Continue reading
By When your core emotional needs are met in childhood, you grow up with positive life themes such as high self-worth and a belief in your ability to cope. Negative life themes emerge when your core emotional needs are not met earlier in life and these negative themes continue into adulthood. These negative life themes are also called schemas, which… Continue reading
By Initially, it may not seem like social anxiety and eco-anxiety have much in common. One relates to interpersonal interactions and fear of judgment, while the other is tied to environmental concerns and fears about the future of the planet. While they may seem unrelated at first glance, there is an unexpected connection between these two forms of… Continue reading
By Many professionals, managers and executives with social anxiety hesitate to use the term “social anxiety” because they are high achievers and they feel shame associated with lacking confidence at work. Many times, they come in using the words “stress and anxiety” generically. However, when I probe on why they are anxious, it often comes back to… Continue reading
By If you have social anxiety, avoidant coping modes may help you avoid activation of your schemas and your inner critic. Schemas are broad, pervasive themes regarding oneself and others, developed during childhood and reinforced throughout one’s lifetime. They tend to be unhelpful to a significant degree. In social anxiety, schemas may consist of… Continue reading
By What is Avoidant Personality Disorder?
Avoidant Personality Disorder (avoidant PD) can be thought of as a more extreme and pervasive type of social anxiety that cuts across many parts of your life. For example, if you have social anxiety, you may have specific social fears such as public speaking, dating, making phone calls, fear of authority figures,… Continue reading
By What is Introversion?
Introversion is “the state of or tendency toward being wholly or predominantly concerned with and interested in one’s own mental life.” According to the Myers-Briggs inventory, introverts are more likely to think, “I like getting my energy from dealing with the ideas, pictures, memories, and reactions that… Continue reading