Overcome Social Anxiety by Reducing Your Avoidance Modes

If you have social anxiety, avoidant coping modes may help you avoid activation of your schemas and your inner critic. Schemas are broad, pervasive themes regarding oneself and others, developed during childhood and reinforced throughout one’s lifetime. They tend to be unhelpful to a significant degree. In social anxiety, schemas may consist of core beliefs related to fear of being judged, criticized by others, or embarrassing oneself. Coping modes such as avoidance often get activated to avoid the pain of the schema.