Social anxiety affects an estimated 16.8% of Irish people according to Social Anxiety Ireland. In my work, I see many clients who suffer from social anxiety. Often they appear to be ‘on the outside’, the most confident of people – yet they are crippled with the fear of ‘What will other people think?’
It is one of the most common phrases that I hear from all ages young to old, men and women. It could be a businesswoman with her own family, or a young guy just starting out in life. The outwardly confident clients that seem to have it all and by all accounts are ‘successful’ in the material world, in their work and social status can be crumbling behind the façade of a fake confidence. That is not to say you have to be seen as successful to experience social anxiety, but only to illustrate how it can affect even those we believe to be uber-confident….read more