Social Anxiety Part 2

September 10, 2009

Interview with Jonathan Berent author of Beyond Shyness: How to Conquer Social Anxieties

www.social-anxiety.com

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Mike Carruthers:
More people have social or performance anxiety than perhaps anyone realized. You know that fear of giving a presentation or the fear of looking foolish or nervous.

Jonathan Berent:
And I’ve had countless people who have told me things like, “You know I’m thinking of getting into a car accident tomorrow on the way to work because I have to give a presentation and there’s no way I’m going to do it.”

Jonathan Berent, author of the book Beyond Shyness: How to Conquer Social Anxieties

One woman (who was an ovarian cancer survivor she almost died because of cancer) she says to me, "Jonathan I’d rather be back in chemotherapy than speak in front of  a group."

To overcome this type of fear usually takes some work but it helps to understand what triggers it. And it starts with that feeling of adrenalin running through your body when you feel the fear.

Typically with performance anxiety, the person doesn’t understand the adrenalin - they fight it. In order to be in control you’ve got to accept it. It’s like a surfer on a wave. The surfer goes with the waves and harnesses the physics and the energy. Ok it’s the same thing here, “I’m going to accept, I’m going to harness the power of the adrenalin, and I’m going to make it work for me.”

This is truly easier said than done but it’s what has to happen, says Jonathan, in order to overcome social and performance anxiety.

When you accept it, the adrenalin curves up and it curves down. When you don’t accept it, it goes up, up, up, up – and that’s what causes panic.

To hear the complete unedited interview, click here.