How can I stop my mind going blank because of social phobia? Reddit

“At best, talking is just thinking out loud.”

In this video, I discuss one of most common complaints from people with social anxiety: not having anything to say. I get into why this happens, and what we can do about it. We need to understand whether we are cutting ourselves off by filtering what we say, and we need to question whether we really need to say things that are impressive in some way. I’ll discuss some principles to help lower your anxiety about conversation, do simple exposure, and set conversational rules that allow you to keep talking even while anxious.

We'll talk about:

0:00 - Intro

0:18 - I have nothing GOOD ENOUGH to say

0:44 - the verbal filter in social anxiety

1:45 - exposure therapy to drop the filter

2:12 - MOST conversations are boring

2:38 - the lightbulb model of conversation

3:21 - the power of attention

4:07 - What to do if you are too anxious to think of what to say

5:21 - the fundamentals of conversation when anxious

 

 

I'm Dr. Thomas Smithyman, a clinical psychologist making videos to help people overcome social anxiety.