Social Anxiety And Writing

person curled up on sofa | Social Anxiety And Writing

I’ve talked about my experiences with social anxiety for years. I was diagnosed as a teenager and have been living with social anxiety since. It’s affected so many aspects of my life and a decade ago I couldn’t imagine publishing one book let alone two before my thirties. Everything that involved other people terrified me. I was so focused on their validation that I forgot that what they thought didn’t matter as long as I loved myself and did what made me happy.

Social Anxiety And Writing

Dr. Robert F. Mullen from Rechanneling.org and I connected through WordPress because his blog is mostly about mental health and social anxiety in general. In particular, he has a very realistic approach on how we can change our thinking patterns and habits to reduce or permanently get rid of those that cause social anxiety. It’s something I also truly believe in because it’s exactly how I decreased my social anxiety.

Dr. Mullen has been so supportive of my writing for years and shared my first book on his blog too. He’s always been a really good friend as well and has gone out of his way to be kind and encouraging. He offered to help promote the book and I was happy to say yes. We decided a guest post on his blog would work well for both of us. So, today my guest post on Rechanneling.org went up and I wanted to share it with everyone here too.

In the post, I talk about social anxiety and writing despite it. How we can live our best lives even despite our anxiety and much more. It’s a pretty personal post and I would be so honoured if you checked it out. Please do let me know what you thought of it in the comments of that post. I’ll be there responding to comments. Thank you!

My first novel, Perfect, is now available on Amazon. If you would like to read it, please click here.


If you enjoyed this post don’t forget to like, follow, share and comment!

Enjoyed this post? Then follow me on social media:

Bluesky Instagram Pinterest LinkedIn HubPages

Email me on(guest posts welcome!): insomniacwithanaccent@gmail.com

Lifesfinewhine Services
Share This Post On:


37 responses to “Social Anxiety And Writing”

  1. this is something that has changed for me which is odd…I for some reason would always have my heart beating like crazy, short of breath, and taking like I was in race whenever I was put in that position of having talk to or in front of strangers….there were times in my life I had to do that with my guitar and my voice, oddly enough I was fine with that..but otherwise that didn’t change until I put myself in a job and a place where speaking in front of people like I knew something about a topic and now, it took me to my 5th and 6th decade to where now, I’m pretty comfortable with public speaking….my sister and parent still think I have that phobia but now I almost make a point of doing that, just start talking……I still have an issue of being in large crowds (I have thrown up)…..but speaking to them not so much. the biggest change, I now seem to not have any phobia of speaking to random people…

    1. I’m so glad you’re able to speak in public comfortably now. Honestly, with anxiety the best way to get through it is remind our brain that things aren’t as scary as we think.

  2. That picture is the perfect illustration on what you are writing about. Social Scientists have described the generation we live in as the “hurry up handshake” generation. Being surrounded by people but with no connection other than what is considered the minimum interaction between us before we are processed and moved on. So much awareness of the condition now with lots of lectures and books but the pressures of our society now keep us all under constant stress and some are not able to handle it.

    1. That’s so true. We have so many pressures these days that we are constantly stressed out and that leads to anxiety for many people.

  3. congratulations Pooj! A brilliant post! I admire your determination! Xo

    1. Thank you so much!

  4. 🙏🌹🙌🏻👍

    Aum Shanti

  5. SMiLes Dear Pooja
    You’ve Come A Long Way
    in Overcoming Your Social
    Anxieties and in Doing so
    Accomplished Publishing
    Two Books Before 30 Indeed

    Now there is room for Much

    More Improvement In both

    Left Overs of Social Anxiety

    And Improvements in all Your

    Business and Artful Activities too

    Large in Part for Overcoming the Within

    Part
    With
    SMiLes..:)

    1. Thank you! Yes, very proud of how far I’ve come even though I have further to go 😊

      1. Wonderful!
        Keep Travelin’
        With SMiles🙌☺️

  6. Pooja, this is something I can relate.
    This week my school friend got married. He invited me to his wedding.
    I really wanted to join there, was almost ready…but then the situation at home made it harder to join there.

    However one of the key factor was — the social anxiety.
    The crowd makes me feel uncomfortable. It is okay to participate in a wedding. But the usual chaos, struggle to fit in, and this sharp heat due to the Summers make it hard to properly enjoy a moment.

    I am getting dehydrate easily despite drinking enough water.
    I will meet him later. The uncertainty regarding the career is stronger than the excitement to celebrate something (it shouldn’t be so, but it is).

    1. I totally understand. Social events like weddings can be so incredibly stressful for those that have social anxiety. And anxiety tends to get worse when we’re already dealing with other things.

  7. I’m so glad that you got help and your social anxiety has decreased due to it. The very first step is admitting to having a problem and then getting help. Bravo dear Pooja

    1. Thank you so much. Yes, admitting the issue is the only way we can move towards fixing it.

      1. Absolutely right dear friend.

  8. It takes a lot of courage to be openly honest and vulnerable about anxiety. Thank you so much for sharing your experience for those who need it 🤍

    1. Thank you so much, happy to share my experiences in the hope that it helps others 💗

  9. Wow good for you in your journey. 🤣😎🙃

    1. Thank you 😊

  10. Kevin James Wholley Avatar
    Kevin James Wholley

    Anxiety is not something you solve but develop tools to help manage and knowing when and when not to test those tools. You seem to be doing quite well, good luck with the book.

    1. Exactly, we need to target the symptoms and figure out how to manage them. Thanks so much.

  11. You seem to be handling your anxiety well, Pooja! Kudos, my friend. I left a comment in the other post.

    1. Thank you so much and will check out that comment too!

  12. Nicely done, Pooj. I’m impressed. I read the “sample” chapters. You should be very proud. It’d quite an accomplishment. I’m glad for you.

    1. Thanks so much. Definitely really proud of myself.

  13. Hmm, at first I wondered about writing itself, since by and large it is a solitary act. But then, as I used to say to students, writing exists to be read. And so then the social part comes in. And I guess the interaction can be, well, any sort of things. Interactive, of course, also opinionated, intimate, and so on. I guess I wrestle with this, too, or I’d do more to get my work out there. Shows great strength and resolve, then, on your part to work specifically with others on your books and then to have public response. Thank goodness your work is good!

    1. Yeah, writing is so solitary but everything else that comes with it is the opposite. It’s never easy to put your work out there whether to a large or small audience. It’s scary but eventually you get used to. I’ve had some lovely reviews and some more harsh which a few years ago would have been devastating but surprisingly no longer phase me. Thank you!

  14. 💝

  15. I am so impressed with you as a person and as a writer. You have explored so many options to lessen your anxiety and it works. Keep going You!

    1. Thank you, it took a lot of work to get here but giving up is never the right option!

  16. We do put ourselves in the public eye with our writing, and that can be intimidating. I hope you know you have an audience who loves and admires you, Sweet Pooja.

    1. Yes, it’s scary but also so worth it. Thank you, that truly means a lot.

  17. Congratulations on this awesome shared post and support of Dr. Robert Mullen. What a wonderful thing to have overcome! What a wonderful accomplishment to find coping skills to deal with your social anxiety, Pooja!
    Congratulations on that!
    What a relief! 😅
    ❤️👏💕

    1. It has really been so amazing to have learnt so many coping skills that help and of course so thankful to Robert that took the time to share the post! ❤️

  18. Soooo awesome 💕😎

Leave a Reply

Discover more from Lifesfinewhine

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading