Shaheen Bhatt on living with social anxiety: ‘I don’t know how much eye contact is enough’

Shaheen Bhatt has always been vocal about her struggle with mental health — from experiencing panic attacks to bouts of anxiety; in turn, helping many others who may be battling the same. In a similar vein, she recently spoke about experiencing social anxiety and how she deals with it in a candid conversation with singer-songwriter Ananya Birla, on her mental health platform ‘Here Comes The Sun.’
Shaheen, who is the older ser of actor Alia Bhatt, said that while things have improved, “it is something that takes consent work for me.” Adding that anxiety is about “how you think you are being perceived other people,” Shaheen said “there is a need to feel like you are behaving in the right way or you are coming off the right way.” She shared that when she experienced social anxiety she used to not know “how much eye contact is enough–Is it too little or too much?” adding that “I get very fixated on things like that.”
According to Mayo Clinic, “In social anxiety disorder, fear and anxiety lead to avoidance that can disrupt your life. Severe stress can affect your relationships, daily routines, work, school, or other activities.” Ling its impact and symptoms, WebMD notes that “social anxiety can have a physical impact, which includes rapid heartbeat, muscle tension, dizziness, and lightheadedness, blushing, crying, and sweating.”

Calling it a ‘narcissic disorder,’ she explained that “I say that because when you are in a social situation, you spend all your focus on yourself. You are thinking about you, about how am I coming off, how is it ok?” “People have different types of social anxiety as well for different reasons but my version of it is that,” she added.
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At such times, Shaheen shared that she really tries to “realise that no one is thinking about me as much as I am thinking about myself — everyone is really focused on themselves.” She further shared that she also “take it out of myself,” “ trying to focus on the other person.” “When a person is talking, I try to focus on what the person is saying rather than wait for you to finish talking and then focus on what I am going to say in response to it,” she added.
Another exercise that Shaheen practices is the ‘anchoring technique’ as part of which she “focuses on my foot and how my foot feels on the ground.” This way, a person can anchor their thoughts while the feeling of panic subsides, she said.

Explaining the same, Dr Samir Parikh, Director of Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences at Fortis healthcare, said, “Social anxiety is when people feel related to social situations. At such times, those going through social anxiety feel evaluation apprehension — worry about being judged others, which causes panic attacks or intense anxiety. This can happen in any situation — a viva exam, speaking on stage, an interview, an imp presentation, going to a get-together,” he shared.

Talking about the impact of social anxiety he added that one may be good in almost everything he/she does, but in these situations they start feeling bad and inferior. “It affects your performances, relationships, the way you look at yourself,” the expert added.
He explained that “medications and therapy have shown a good response” in such cases, as he shared some tips that a person with social anxiety should keep in mind.

Tips
*Focus on your knowledge: Make yourself believe that you know what you are speaking.
* Do breathing exercises to calm yourself
*Avoid caffeine and stimulants and over-the-counter pills
*Take help
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