Dealing with post lockdown social anxiety?

For many people, the easing of the lockdown restrictions cannot come quick enough. However, for those who suffer with anxiety, the national lockdown has made it harder than ever to get back out and socialise. Here at Kays Counselling, we have compiled together some tips for those who need some additional support as the world re-opens, and everything goes back to normal.

Pre-plan situations/ events and meet-ups

Whatever the situation is where you feel most anxious, think about ways in which you can allow yourself to feel less anxious. Ease yourself into situations and different surroundings and go at the pace you feel comfortable with, not the one that everyone else is doing. It’s okay to take your time and think about what you want to do, rather than rushing into it.

Grounding technique

When you start to feel anxious, pick an object around you, focus on that object and don’t move your eyes away from it. Describe this object to yourself over and over until you feel at ease. This technique helps to ground you and help you feel calmer. You can use this as many times as you need.

Internal dialogue

Having a conversation with yourself can be extremely effective at dealing with anxiety. Look for evidence that disproves the thoughts you get for example, ‘people are going to judge me’ might be a thought you have which prevents you from going on, look for evidence to prove or disprove this, has anyone in that setting judged you? When did it happen? Was it just one person who has ever done it? What about all the people that don’t judge you? This type of challenge can help you ease your anxiety and help you maintain control of your mind and body.

Stay informed

Keeping up to date with the latest news is key as misinformation only leads to extremely high levels of anxiety. Ensuring you have the correct statistics and facts will mean that you will know what is safe and what isn’t, allowing you to avoid stations that aren’t. But also, don’t constantly keep reading into the news, as this often causes anxiety too. We suggest limiting yourself to 1 or 2 times a day. This means that you will be able to gather all the information you need to ease your worries, without creating any.

Focus on the positives

Anxiety can make you feel as though there is nothing good to look forward to. However, you need to remember that, that is the anxiety talking and it is not the reality. Yes, there are measures in place such as social distancing to protect one another from the virus, but we are now allowed to see each other and start going places again! There are many positives to focus on and these will differ from person to person, but think, what are the positives for you?

Speak to someone

Sharing your worries and concerns with someone can help alleviate them. Whether it be talking to a friend or family member, or even a counsellor, ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’.

Kays Counselling offer counselling sessions in Birmingham or can be scheduled over Skype, Teams, Zoom or any other social platform, if you are not ready to attend a counselling session in person yet. Contact us today to book your counselling session!