I wrote a post a while ago that outlined my best metaphors for anxiety in the hope that they would help someone to describe what real anxiety feels like. Now I want to write a post detailing my best metaphors for social anxiety because it’s something that affects many people, teens or otherwise.
Social anxiety is something that affected me in my teenage years. I always feel inadequate and exposed in social situations, especially when I was around new people or people that I didn’t know. Half the time I didn’t know what to say, how to stand or what to do with my hands! I used to think it was just a confidence thing but more and more I see young people experiencing social anxiety today.
When I was a teenager, social media didn’t exist and I think that is why so many teenagers have social anxiety today. It’s easy to talk to people online but it’s at the detriment to developing real world social skills if you don’t meet people in person enough. Social anxiety is no joke and it can make people isolated due to them feeling like they can’t participate in social situations.
Whatever the reason for what seems to be a rise in social anxiety, it’s so important to highlight because it can be something that follows you through life if you don’t decide to do something about it and try to hone your social skills.
Here are fifteen metaphors for social anxiety that I hope will help you explain it better to others;
1. Social anxiety is like being dropped in the middle of the ocean alone, totally exposed to everything around you.
2. Social anxiety is like walking through a crowd that expects you to make a speech but your lips just won’t move.
3. Social anxiety is like having your head held underwater and the only way to come up s to think of something useful to say.
4. Social anxiety is like having the unbearable feeling that you’re the odd one out at the party and everyone knows it.
5. Social anxiety is the feeling that something bad is about to happen and that horrible feeling never goes away.
6. Social anxiety is like having a loud annoying song playing, causing you to forget what you should be saying or doing.
7. Social anxiety is like the having the fear of your first day of school play out every time you meet new people even though you know you should be able to handle situations like this better now yet you still go back to that place.
8. Social anxiety is like imposter syndrome, you know you deserve to be someone with people but yet you can’t help but feel like you’re also not good enough to be and so you go into your shell.
9. Social anxiety is like standing in the rain without an umbrella, even though you knew it was going to rain before you went out. You are exposed to the elements and can’t find any shelter.
10. Social anxiety is never feeling that you have anything to say, and anything you do say will be laughed at, even though in reality, that thought is complete nonsense.
11. Social anxiety is the feeling of butterflies you get in the pit of your stomach before going on a big roller coaster, however once on, you know you can’t get back off until the end.
12. Social anxiety is the feeling of being totally isolated, even from your own rational thoughts.
13. Social anxiety is like being an alien, landing on earth, no one understands you and you exist only on your own.
14. Social anxiety is the feeling of constant discomfort and awkwardness even though deep down you know you don’t need to be.
15. Social anxiety is being trapped in tunnels with dangerous animals and every turn you take is a dead end.
Social anxiety is something that affects us all at times but can be overcome
Social anxiety affects us all to different degrees. For some like myself, it usually comes when we’re in a group of people we don’t know or even if we’re with people we know, we feel as if we need to stick with them and not be left alone with new people. Most social anxiety manifests itself in this way and it can be very difficult to force yourself to speak to people and start conversations.
Social anxiety is like extreme shyness in many ways and it’s a condition that is looked over far too much in my opinion. It is something that keeps people isolated and from going out and doing things that would help them to get over social anxiety. For me, moving past social anxiety is to throw yourself into situations that make you uncomfortable and then making yourself talk to people.
At first it is very uncomfortable and you feel like a fraud but after a few attempts, you learn that most people feel awkward talking to new people at first, unless they’re extreme extroverts. Learning how to talk to new people is like honing a skill. It’s something you have to practise over and over and be willing to make mistakes from time to time. However, in my experience, you’ll rarely ever make a fool of yourself because people are always happy to talk to people and learn about them.
The most important thing to remember is that it’s something that can be overcome and it’s from making yourself uncomfortable that social situations start to feel less and less uncomfortable over time.
As social animals, it’s important to hone social skills with people in person. I hope these metaphors for social anxiety have helped and hopefully you can use them to explain social anxiety to others if you need to.
Sean C is a writer, passionate about improving one’s self by maintaining healthy habits and doing the things that make life more meaningful.