What is shyness?
Shyness is usually associated with being quiet, insecure, and/or socially anxious. Being shy is not necessarily bad. We can all feel shy from time to time, so it’s alright to feel a little uncomfortable in new situations and with new people.
If being shy is something you’d like to work on, there are ways to overcome these challenges, so you can still be shy and achieve your goals.
What causes shyness?
Some people are born more shy than others. Sometimes you can grow out of shyness and sometimes it can stay with you. Shyness is generally associated with new situations and can often pass; it can also attribute to the people you hang out with.
For instance, you might feel shy on your first day of school or starting a new job where you don’t know anyone. Over time you might start to make friends and your shyness may start to go away as you become more comfortable and confident in your new situation or with new people.
Here are some situations where you might find yourself being more prone to shyness:
- Public speaking, e.g. class presentations
- Speaking to someone you think is attractive
- Meeting new people
- Going to a new place
- Eating and drinking in public
- Exams
- Performing
- Talking to someone important, e.g. your boss or principal
- Job interviews
Symptoms of Shyness
How you might behave
- Quietly and passively
- Avoiding eye contact
- Avoiding social situations
- Speaking quietly
- Nervous behaviors, such as touching your hair or face a lot, tapping your toes on the ground, clicking a pen over and over, biting your nails etc.
What you may feel physically
- Fast heartbeat
- Dry mouth
- Shaking
- Sweating
- Feeling faint or dizzy
- Butterflies in your stomach or feeling sick
- Feeling like the situation is unreal or you are removed
- Fear of losing control, going crazy, or having a heart attack
What you Might be Thinking
- Negative thoughts about yourself, the situation, and others
- Wanting to be perfect to avoid judgment
- Blaming and beating yourself up, particularly after a social situation
- Believing yourself to be weaker than others (poor self-esteem)
- Thinking “I don’t fit in” or “I’m unattractive”
What You Could Be Feeling
- Embarrassed
- Self-consciousness
- Silly
- Low self-esteem
- Sad
- Lonely
- Depressed
- Anxious/ worried
Feeling Anxious About Blushing and Sweating?
When you’re feeling shy or embarrassed in a social situation or in any of the situations mentioned above, you might find yourself blushing or sweating more than usual. It’s also possible to blush for no apparent reason.
In embarrassing or stressful situations, the body’s fight or flight response is activated. This releases extra adrenaline into the bloodstream causing more blood to rush to your face, neck, and ears. Anxiety and nervousness can make you sweat more on your face or under your arms.
These physical displays of embarrassment, shyness, and/or nervousness are often more noticeable to you than to others. You may also think that people are going to judge you or think that you are weak or dishonest by blushing or sweating. Most likely, others just see you as being shy or nervous.
Sometimes breathing can help to reduce the symptoms of blushing. See the article on Relaxation for information on breathing techniques. You can also check out our article on Developing Coping Strategies.
What can you do if you are feeling shy?
It can be really useful to talk to someone if you feel that your shyness is keeping you from doing things that you want to do. You may want to consider talking to your family, friends or counselor about it. Here are some tips that can help you start overcoming your shyness:
Prepare a topic for conversation. Thinking about what you might talk about with new people can really help the conversation and any awkward feelings. It helps to pick a topic that you know a lot about and feel confident about.
Smile and be friendly. You are more likely to be friendly to someone who smiles at you, so try it yourself. Opening yourself up to people can make them feel more comfortable and more likely to be friendly in response.
Practice social skills. Start practicing your social skills one at a time. Try smiling at someone or saying ‘hi’, and keep practicing at home until you feel confident to try it out in a social situation. Once you feel comfortable with that, you can move onto something else—like trying to hold eye contact during a conversation.
Worse case scenarios. It may help to run through some of the worst things that could happen, so you can learn how to handle stumbling over your words when giving a class presentation or dropping your drink at a party. Thinking about some of the worst scenarios that you could come across may help you realize that they might not be as bad as you initially thought and would also prepare you for these situations if they were to happen. In case something embarrassing does happen, humor is a great way to release the awkward energy. Instead of taking something seriously, allow it to happen and laugh about it.
“I’m shy”. Letting other people know that you are shy can sometimes make the situation more comfortable. People are generally understanding, caring and patient, so they will help support you.
Reward yourself. It’s extremely helpful to tell yourself that you did really well after you’ve been in an uncomfortable situation. It is also important to remember that sometimes things can go wrong, and instead of focusing on what didn’t go right, try shifting your focus to see the things that DID go well, like the fact that you put yourself out there and tried.
Is shyness affecting my social life?
Sometimes being shy can impact on your life. You might find that you avoid social situations or new people because you are too shy and sometimes you may feel afraid to do simple things like asking someone a question or avoiding taking the bus because you don’t like everyone looking at you.
If you feel that your shyness is impacting your life, have a look at the Social Anxiety article.
Self-Esteem & Confidence
Building your self-esteem and confidence can often help reduce shyness in some situations. Low self-esteem can influence the way you behave. Sometimes shyness can hold you back from new experiences because you become overly concerned with the possibility of failure or looking stupid.
There are ways of building your self-esteem like learning how to love yourself and challenge your self-talk. Focusing on your good qualities helps to build your confidence and self-esteem, as well as learning not to compare yourself to others and realizing that no one is perfect.
Check out our articles on Self-Esteem and Challenging Negative Self-Talk for more information.
How can you help a friend who is shy?
If you know someone who’s shy, try to help the person feel less nervous. Think about how it feels for you when you are feeling shy. You can even try telling them about a time that you felt shy. It might help them to understand that everyone feels that way sometimes, and they’re not alone.
Do you have a positive experience or story with being shy? Share below!
Acknowledgements: This article was originally developed by youth and staff for us.ReachOut.com
About Youth Era
Youth Era is a nonprofit that works with teens and young adults to become happy, successful, and contributing adults members of their communities. The organization creates solutions for communities across the country that look beyond short-term assistance for the few and toward sustainable support for the many. To learn more, visit www.youthera.org.
