Jelena Tomovic | Life Coaching | Healing

While some sufferers of social phobia manage to get by life without too much difficulty, some may struggle in controlling panic attacks and desperately need help. Apart from medication and therapy, there a various self help techniques that you can employ to reduce anxiety and stop a panic attack in its tracks. Meeting with the boss for a performance assessment, asking someone out on a date or introducing yourself to new people; we've all felt nervous social experience at some point in our lives. These experiences for social phobia sufferers are much more feared however.

Anxiety symptoms are likely to occur in such experiences and even trigger an episode. A person might show signs of anxiety including; jitteriness, perspiration, trembling and poor communication. Behaviors and habits that progress into social anxiety disorder are often developed from childhood experiences. Seemingly harmless to people who don't suffer this disorder, for sufferers it can have huge negative effct on their lives.

Many feel limited with both happiness and opportunities. Lack of self-esteem and assertiveness, being overly selfconsciousness and constant worry of what others think; these behaviors stop a person from achieving success in life. It's quite common for children to fall short at school and to maintain low expectations as they grow up. Growing up into adults they might let opportunities slip by.

Diagnosed cases of social anxiety disorder are either treated with medication or therapy, or a combination of both. Aside from these two options however there self help methods in reducing anxiety and coping with panic attacks. Frequent feelings of uneasiness and dread trigger anxiety symptoms. When a person with social anxiety steps into a room full of strangers they begin having worrying thoughts about being nervous and looking nervous. They are likely to feel cornered and a need to escape.

Social anxiety often spirals out of control from a single thought of worry which then trigger sensations and more worry. Learning to stop these thoughts can take time but essentially to get over social anxiety a person needs to recondition them. One way to do this is through self guided imagery and positive affirmations. Also by pushing your boundaries day by day you can gradually become more comfortable to situations that you fear.

Develop your confidence by reading lots of self help and motivational books. Confidence is a habit that can be learnt. Direct your attention to others needs instead of your own. Observe others and realize that you're not being watched and learn to be comfortable in your own skin. Try and meet with friends more often and communicate with people more at work. Think of something that's interested you and go out and do it.  

Stop yourself from thoughts of worry and self-criticism. Breathing and meditation exercises help in calming the body and mind and reducing stress. When you feel anxious in any particular situation, begin to breathe deeply and count to ten. Reducing anxiety and controlling panic attacks through breathing can be surprisingly effective.

EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) is a meridian therapy which many people have claimed effectiveness in controlling panic attacks as well as other health problems. This simple technique works by unblocking energy flow in the body and implementing positive thoughts into the mind. This is done by tapping on acupuncture points on the body. Social anxiety is a challenging disorder to overcome but by gradually chipping at the wall, you can break down any barrier in your life.