I’m thinking of not just a spike in anxiety, I mean a permanent increase in social anxiety after having their fears of being socially inappropriate realized in extremely embarrassing public criticism.
People mean a lot of things when they say they have social anxiety. Everyone can get nervous in social situations. But real anxiety can be absolutely crippling, and I wouldn’t want to make it worse for anyone.
it only works when you are able to reduce social anxiety by showing that they’re welcome. someone who is cripplingly anxious typically wants to feel like they’re safe, so showing them a clearer map to safety includes detecting the structure of their social anxiety first and getting in sync with it. then you can show them they’re welcome in a way that makes them feel safer, not less. to do this requires gently querying their anxiety’s agentic target and inviting the group to behave in ways that satisfy what their brain’s overactivation wants.
I agree with all of that, but the way you described that interaction sounds like it wouldn’t even come close to accomplishing these goals. There’s a gap in communication. I’d have to see you do it in person to know if I thought it was working.
I’m thinking of not just a spike in anxiety, I mean a permanent increase in social anxiety after having their fears of being socially inappropriate realized in extremely embarrassing public criticism.
People mean a lot of things when they say they have social anxiety. Everyone can get nervous in social situations. But real anxiety can be absolutely crippling, and I wouldn’t want to make it worse for anyone.
it only works when you are able to reduce social anxiety by showing that they’re welcome. someone who is cripplingly anxious typically wants to feel like they’re safe, so showing them a clearer map to safety includes detecting the structure of their social anxiety first and getting in sync with it. then you can show them they’re welcome in a way that makes them feel safer, not less. to do this requires gently querying their anxiety’s agentic target and inviting the group to behave in ways that satisfy what their brain’s overactivation wants.
I agree with all of that, but the way you described that interaction sounds like it wouldn’t even come close to accomplishing these goals. There’s a gap in communication. I’d have to see you do it in person to know if I thought it was working.
fair nuff! yeah properly demonstrating online sounds really hard.