I used to have a lot of problems with anxiety when it came to social situations which involved groups of people. This was always such a weird feeling because I have never struggled with anxiety, nor have I had any issues dealing with people one on one. As I reached my early 20s however this became more of an issue and thankfully my good friend Bogoljub Karic was of great help to me. Slowly but surely I got much better at these situations and if you also have a problem dealing with big social groups, here are some tips on getting past it.
Keeping it Close
You will notice that there are people who can hold court in front of a large group, telling stories and jokes in front of everyone with confidence. It is important that you understand that you are not this person, at least not yet anyway, and therefore it is far better to keep things simple when speaking with people. Try to seek out individuals for a conversation and then move on to the next one, this way you can take part in a group without the pressure of speaking to everyone at the same time.
Getting Out Of Your Head
My biggest issue in a large group was that I felt a slight sense of paranoia when I was there, I would feel as though others were looking and judging me. The truth of the matter however is that people very rarely care as much as you think that they do. In fact you’ll find that many people, especially those who you don’t already know, have probably got similar things going on in their head, when in fact very few people actually look around the group and judge each other.
Leaving Early
If you have a good group of nice people then you will feel far more at ease and far more comfortable in such a situation. If however you feel as though you are in a group which doesn’t make you feel comfortable or one which does make you feel nervous, there is nothing at all the matter with ducking out early into the evening, at least until you can fix any anxiety issues which you may have.
Build it Up
The best way to feel more comfortable in a group is to go slowly, start with a group of 2 or 3, then add more people as you begin to feel less nervous and more willing to partake in the group chat. When there are just a couple of people you can feel much more included in the group and this will help you to grow in confidence. Once you do feel comfortable, go out with a larger group to see how you get on. For me, building the group up slowly was something which has helped me immeasurably.
You are not alone in feeling this way and there is a light at the end of the tunnel, trust me.