Social Anxiety & Partying

As a college student, you probably interact with a lot of people everyday. Whether if be in classes, passing people by on campus, ordering food at a dining hall, talking to professors, printing out papers at the library etc. However, you probably engage in more social interactions with these people on the weekends. That’s right, I’m going there. A typical weekend for a college student involves alcohol, a group of strangers, and a social setting, otherwise known as a partying.

I’m not going to go to much into detail about actual partying, but I want to discuss the social aspect of it, the different type of people that you will find, and more importantly tips on how to overcome some social anxiety.

For some, meeting people can sometimes be a stressful situation. Not knowing what to talk about, feeling self-conscious about yourself, and all that jazz. It is not uncommon to get nervous or anxious while in a social situation. Typically at a party, alcohol is involved in a social situation which we all know can lower your inhibitions, and seems like it can reduce social anxiety. You seem to be a “more confident” you, and can talk about anything in the world. More about alcohol and its effects can be found here: Advice about Alcohol

However, do not rely on alcohol to solve all your social anxiety problems! Here are some helpful tips I found that can help you work to become a more confident person who can engage in day to day interactions.

• Developing a habit of eating with your close relative or friend in a public setting can help you a lot in improving your social interactions.
• Being first to say hello or making an eye contact while greeting others can also work well.
• Giving someone a compliment or preparing for conversing like reading newspapers in order to find an interesting issue or story to discuss.
• Focusing on improving your personal qualities which you like most apart from being an introvert can be helpful for you to manage well in several social interactions.

More about Improving Social Anxiety Disorders

Don’t think you are the only one that suffers from a little social awkwardness. We all go through it! Some of us are just more practiced than others. This is an example of typical people you will find at a party: