TITLE

How to Deal With Quarantine-Induced Social Anxiety

DESCRIPTION

The pandemic has caused most of us to feel isolated in social and physical distance.  Many are not seeing friends, family, attending classes in person, and feel anxious, alone and even depressed during these terrible times.  “Whether you’ve long struggled with social worries or find yourself feeling unusually awkward around people during the pandemic, worrying excessively about potentially embarrassing yourself won’t help you save face; at its worst, it can shrink your life. And when social worries morph into social anxiety disorder, defined as persistent and intense social fears that lead to avoiding situations that spark those fears, it can reduce positive emotions, hinder achievements, fuel loneliness and lead to additional problems like substance abuse and depression.”  Using empirically based methods, it is possible to reduce the anxiety significantly.  The article provides five effective steps to feeling better using well researched clinical Psychology methods.   

You can read more in your textbook about anxiety, techniques to reduce anxiety, and Positive Psychology.

SOURCE

New York Times, November 12, 2020, by Jenny Taitz

LINK TO RESOURCE

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/12/smarter-living/covid-social-anxiety.html

(Tiny URL)  https://tinyurl.com/y6fzmbl7

CLASS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

•What is anxiety?  (use your textbook if you want to know the standard definition used in the field)

•In particular, what is social anxiety?  What are the causes?  What are the symptoms?

•According to the article, how does the current pandemic and quarantine contribute to social anxiety?

•What are the five steps to better manage and reduce social anxiety?