People with social anxiety are often asked to confront their fears. Gradual exposure to social situations will improve their anxiety. However, research suggests that those who don’t improve are using safety bias tricks without realizing it. What are these scams and how do you avoid them?

What are safety-biased behaviors?

Socially anxious people fear social situations for several reasons. Some may feel trapped, others suffer from cripplingly low self-esteem, and others simply experience anxiety attacks in social settings.

For all types of anxiety disorders, the suggested treatment is gradual exposure to the fear-causing situation. The premise is to introduce the person very gradually to situations that cause slight anxiety. Once a person learns to stay in the situation and manage the fear, they can move to a higher level of anxiety.

The idea is that by staying in an environment that produces fear, the person learns that nothing untoward is happening, and eventually the fear subsides. In the end, the person overcomes his social phobia.

This is all well and good. But as someone with a phobia will tell you, it’s not that simple at all. Researchers have found that socially anxious people use safety bias tricks to avoid social situations. So let’s get to it; What are these behaviors?

12 Safety Bias Tricks in People with Social Anxiety

Safety bias causes a person to perform certain behaviors during the social environment that are designed to make them feel better or safe, but in reality, they do not.

Some examples include:

Always get the last seat in the cinema so you can leave quickly if you feel anxious during the movie.
Stand at the back of the meeting room so you can escape if necessary.
Only order drinks at lunch so you can leave quickly if you panic.

• Speak quickly, speed up your speech without stopping.
  Avoid eye contact so you don’t have to talk to people.
  Wear boring and bland clothes so you don’t attract yourself.
  Drink alcohol or use drugs to calm your nerves before the event.
  Avoiding substances you know like caffeine increases your adrenaline and makes you blush or sweat.
  Pretend you don’t see someone or aren’t interested in the conversation so you don’t have to participate.
  Ask a lot of questions to distract from yourself.
  Taking on roles within a group with minimal interaction with others, e.g. Preparing equipment or delivering paperwork.
  Walk with your head down or put your hands in your pockets to avoid interacting with others.

Now we all have behaviors that we repeat to make ourselves feel calm and confident. For example, wearing makeup, wearing attractive clothes, and even drinking and smoking help us to some extent.

You might think that there’s really nothing wrong with a person using these types of tricks if it makes them feel safe. But research shows that safety-biased behaviors actually hinder a socially anxious person’s ability to overcome their fear.