Bence Juhász｜Psychologist

06/02/2023

Social anxiety and safety behaviours😱

First researchers thought that socially anxious people
feel anxious due to the lack of social skills.

New research shows that it may be untrue, socially anxious people do have the social skills, and they do not show signs of maladaptive behaviour in social situations, but rather...

🗡️They use safety behaviours to cope with the anxiety-inducing situation and to prevent feelings of fear to come up.

🛡️What is safety behaviour?

It can be a bunch of behaviours that help the anxious person avoid somehow the feared outcomes.

For example

🟠Avoiding eye contact
🟠Camouflaging anxiety symptoms
🟠Intense rehearsal before socializing
🟠Less social interaction, communication

23/01/2023

Social anxiety and ANGER🤬

🔸Socially anxious people experience more anger than non-anxious people.

People with social anxiety feel anger more often and in more situations.
If they are criticized or receive a negative evaluation, they respond with anger.

Interestingly researchers found that the ability to express anger is lower for people with social anxiety. They prefer to suppress or turn their anger inward.

🔸So, are they suppressing it or acting out of anger?

Both!

Researchers distinguish 2 types of social anxiety groups: some people are prone to anger, and hostile responses, while others are characterized by avoidance and a submissive response style.

21/12/2022