Social anxiety
Which of the following could be symptoms of anxiety? 1. Sweating 2. Rapid heart rate 3. Feeling self-conscious 4. Avoiding scary situations 5. All of the above
5. All of the above are common symptoms of anxiety!
True or false: Selective mutism reflects the fear of speaking to certain people.
True!
What are some activities that you do that relax you?
This could be anything! Drawing, listening to music, drumming, eating good food, spending time with family. Anything that makes you feel less anxious and more at peace.
If you have the thought "no one likes me", is that a helpful thought?
No! Our anxiety loves to say mean things to us to manipulate us into doing what it wants us to do. When our minds say things like this, it is most helpful to call it out as a lie and to move on with our day!
True or false: avoidance of things is one of the most common reactions to anxiety.
True! This is called a safety behavior, because when we avoid scary things it makes us feel like we are safe. BUT- this is where anxiety lies. Avoiding scary things actually only makes things worse, like in the dog example. When anxiety is telling you to avoid something, the best thing you can do is do it anyways!
Why does facing fears help reduce anxiety?
Because as you begin to face fears, it teaches your anxiety that you are actually able to face scary situations. Often, the situations actually don't even end up being all that scary!
True or false: Selective mutism and social anxiety are the same thing.
False, but they are very similar! Social anxiety can occur in a broad number of situations, but selective mutism reflects more specifically the fear of speaking itself. Which do you feel like reflects your experience more?
What is the 54321 grounding technique?
Lets learn it!
1. Notice 5 things that you can see around you. What do they look like? Do you like them?
2. Notice 4 things that you can touch around you. How do they feel?
3. Notice 3 things you can hear. What do they sound like?
4. notice 2 things you can smell. Do you like these smells?
5. notice 1 thing you can taste. Do you have a drink or snack nearby? How does it taste?
If your anxiety said "I can't sit there because people will think I am weird", what could be a helpful way of responding to that thought?
Something like "I can sit where ever I want, and that doesn't make me weird"! Challenge the anxiety and tell it to stop bothering you
True or false: animals help relieve anxiety!
True! Being with people and animals can help anxiety defuse and help us feel more confident.
True or false: having social anxiety means that you do not have good social skills
False! Social anxiety doesn't have to be correlated with social skills. However, sometimes working on social skills can provide confidence in working on social anxiety, so can be helpful!
True or false: someone with selective mutism may have difficulty speaking to some people and no difficulty talking to others.
True! Who are you more comfortable speaking to? Who are you less comfortable speaking to?
What is color grounding?
Pick a color, any color! Say you pick purple. Take some time and notice all the purple items around you, allowing yourself to sit with anxiety and calm down. If you finish this and are still feeling anxious, choose another color and keep going!
Does anxiety always tell the truth?
No!! Anxiety is a big liar. It thinks it is trying to protect us from scary things, but in fact it is just making us worry about things that aren't worth our time. Next time you have an anxious thought, trying calling it out and labeling it as a liar!
True or false: when anxiety asks a "what if" question, we have to answer it or we will go crazy.
False! Anxiety makes us feel like we have to be totally sure about things- but that is a myth! Choosing uncertainty can be a huge help in facing fears.
What are some examples of situations that may cause someone to experience social anxiety?
Being asked questions in school, having to speak in front of others, having to give presentations, making phone calls, ordering food, and many more!
Do people with selective mutism "grow out of it" naturally? Or do they have to work towards goals to overcome fears?
Work on goals, of course! Selective mutism is not specific to a certain age of person nor is it naturally grown out of
What is your imaginary safe space?
This could be anything! Close your eyes, and imagine that you are totally at peace. Where are you? What can you see? Who is there with you? Return to this place in the future when you are feeling anxious to help ground you.
What can you do when anxiety makes you feel bad about yourself?
Lots of options here! You can use positive self talk to prove the anxiety wrong, you can call the anxiety a liar, or engage in activities that make you feel good about yourself!
True or false: we have no control over how we respond to the thoughts in our head
False!! While we cannot control what we think, we can control whether or not we believe the thought and how we respond to it.
True or false: research shows that people do not like being friends with people with social anxiety.
FALSE! Research actually shows that people like befriending people with social anxiety.
How many kids under the age of 18 experience selective mutism? Is it rare?
Its actually not that rare! 1 in 140 kids experience selective mutism.
Is deep breathing helpful in calming anxiety?
Yes! Here is an easy technique to try. Box breathing means that you breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, breathe out for 4 seconds, and repeat until you feel calmer
Is it possible to feel scared of something and still choose to do it?
Absolutely, people do it throughout their whole lives! Sometimes anxiety makes us feel like we have to stop everything and protect ourselves, but that is a lie. Chose to do things even if you are scared!
True or false: we are more capable of doing scary things than we think we are
TRUE!!!