No one is born a social phobe from the beginning. Sensitive and sensitive - yes. Those who want to please their parents - yes. Trusting and naive - yes. Those who strive for people with all their soul - definitely. Mom and Dad believe that there are no suitable friends - ok, I won’t communicate with anyone. They said “keep your head down” - I keep quiet in front of people, often stay at home and slowly close myself off from the outside world in every sense. They gossip, discuss others - I understand that others can gossip about me too. Classmates bully - that means I’m really bad, that means I deserve it. Alone with my thoughts, without feedback and the opportunity to train communication - oh, how hard it is not to become a social phobe. Continuous Groundhog Day within the four walls of my room, with short dashes to the hated school and back - and now, unnoticed, adulthood is approaching. Everyone starts families, gives birth to children, changes jobs, cars, cities... And you continue to close yourself in your shell, feeling how life flows by. New problems, new reproaches: “look, Masha has already given birth to her third,” “Natasha got married for the second time.” , “Ninka became the general director, bought a dacha for her parents, and you.. eh!” And you can’t go to the store without first setting up to communicate with people. And no one even wants to listen to you, your only friend sometimes sympathizes, and she has no time - family worries, you know... I want to note that I wanted to remain silent not because I am silent in life, but because of the fatigue that has accumulated over many years from social phobia. Alexey Smelov. How to get rid of social phobia. It is often difficult to get out of such a funnel on your own, so before it’s too late - study the literature, use practical techniques to overcome social fears. Better yet, look for your own psychologist, preferably with personal experience in overcoming social anxiety. Social phobia is perfectly amenable to correction, I never tire of repeating this. You will always have time to finally slam the sink! Give yourself a chance - after all, you are the only one! You can take a multifactorial test yourself to determine whether you are developing social phobia and get feedback with recommendations from the psychologist, the author of this article. ***Help for social phobia: Sign up for a consultation Online course on overcoming social anxiety on your own Online group therapy “Overcoming shyness, social phobia and social fears” Telegram group “You are not alone” to support people with social anxiety Chat room for social phobias to communicate ** *I will be glad to see your thoughts on the topic of the article, likes, comments and reposts - this way many more people with social anxiety will see it!