August 15, 2011

Behavior Change Exercise for Social Anxiety


Human behavior is changeable. Being able to adapt to changes in our environment has enabled us to survive.


To change behavior, we must look at factors in the current situation that maintain the undesirable behavior as well as focus on alterations that will call forth and support desirable behaviors.


Social anxiety can have secondary gains. For example, it can prevent exposure to feeling uninteresting, unintelligent, like you don’t belong, etc. Have you put yourself in a situation that supports behavior that you want to change? Maybe taking a job where you do not have to have social interaction, avoiding a hobby that you would like to pursue, making new friends, dating, or something else?


Challenge yourself with the questions below.

1) What are some factors in your current life situation that maintains the undesirable behavior? For example, isolating, avoiding social events, etc.
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2) What secondary gains are you getting from the factors you listed above?
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3) How can you alter those factors in a way that supports the behaviors you would like to develop?
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Remember to pick your battles. Prioritize the things that mean the most to you. Some of the changes are not worth the level of anxiety they would arouse at this point in your life. However, if there are things you really feel strongly about it’s well worth taking the small steps to move in that direction.



By Nyla Lengacher