If you’ve been living with social anxiety disorder for a long time, you might wonder if there’s any hope of it ever getting better.

Maybe you struggled with shyness and fear of social situations for a long time before understanding that it was a mental health disorder and came to accept it as part of who you are. Perhaps you were diagnosed years ago and have tried to overcome your anxiety but to no avail.

Or perhaps you’ve only recently been diagnosed and need to know how the condition is going to impact the rest of your life.

There are no absolutes in psychology, and no definitive answers to what the future holds. But when it comes to the question of whether social anxiety can ever get better, there is both good and bad news.

Let’s start with the bad.

Social anxiety rarely gets better on its own

Social anxiety disorder is a condition which affects you on a very deep level. It changes how you think, feel and act.

If you experience social phobia yourself, you will be all too familiar with the anxious thoughts and expectations around being judged by others, the sickening feelings of fear and shame, and the lengths you have to go to feel safe. Your whole life can be consumed by your need to avoid or escape from public situations.

This creates a never ending cycle where your fears around other people cause you to withdraw. When you avoid others, or avoid situations you find difficult, you start to feel even less confident in your ability to face them. As your confidence evaporates you withdraw more and more.

This pattern of withdrawing and reduced confidence means that, unfortunately, social anxiety is unlikely to simply disappear on its own. In fact, if left untreated, it is more likely to get worse.

The good news

So is that it? Is there no hope for you now that you’ve been diagnosed with social anxiety? Will you have to live with it forever?

Absolutely not. While the condition is unlikely to change for the better on its own, it can absolutely be improved or even cured with a bit of expert help. There are plenty of treatment options available for social anxiety. Many of them have high rates of success in reducing your fears and other symptoms, and in helping you live with your condition.
The most highly recommended treatment for social anxiety is cognitive behavioural therapy, or CBT. This effective form of therapy is usually done with the help of a qualified therapist, either in person or via video call.

CBT aims to help you spot the thoughts and behaviours which are making you feel anxious around other people, and start to question the assumptions and predictions causing you to withdraw.

A big part of CBT for social anxiety is practising talking to other people in situations you would normally find scary. This breaks the negative cycle of fear and withdrawal by increasing your confidence and helping you see that your anxieties don’t always match up to reality.

Seeking help for social anxiety can definitely be scary, as it means talking about your fears and facing up to the situations you normally try to avoid. This can be tough. But scientific research shows that the majority of people who try CBT for social phobia experience reduced symptoms and a higher quality of life after a few weeks of work.

Ready to start?

You might have accepted social anxiety as something you’ll live with forever. But this doesn’t have to be the case.

Imagine your life if you were free of the condition: what it would be like to actually enjoy spending time with other people rather than dreading it. If you’re ready to turn that possibility into reality, get in touch with us today and let’s get started.