Dawon Shin
Don’t you sometimes feel constantly uncertain of yourself? This is known as “social insecurity”, which is a common feeling that affects all ages, genders, and backgrounds. Most people experience this feeling at some point.
There are various types of insecurities: relationship, social, body image, job, and basic needs. Specifically, social insecurity refers to one’s anxiety in social settings. I, as a high schooler, experience this anxiety frequently due to my lack of confidence in myself. For instance, in my school’s broadcasting program, creating videos every week requires a high amount of teamwork and communication between students. Due to the pressure to make a “perfect” product every week, I doubted my skills and was afraid to do or ask anything.
I believe all of these feelings and emotions are completely normal. Especially in a world based on competition and success, comparing yourself with others is something that might be necessary for us to cope in this society. However, those who compare themselves with others soon realize that comparing doesn’t benefit you in any way. Competition may give you temporary motivation and dedication to a certain topic, but it gives you constant stress and anxiety which may rather degrade your progress. The amount of stress is not worth the small amounts of triumph as you tend to set higher expectations for yourself causing the unhealthy cycle to repeat over and over again.
Some of the signs of social insecurities are easy to spot while some aren’t. One’s avoidance to admit or even consider their signs worsens their social insecurity. Just like our physical health, our mental health needs to be taken care of rather than neglected.
The main symptoms of social insecurities include: low self-esteem, perfectionism, social unworthiness, avoiding social interactions, isolation, and anxiety.
Solutions to social insecurities can be both simple and complex. Embracing yourself as the person you are and accepting your limitations is the hardest but quickest way to overcome social insecurity. Accepting your limitations doesn’t mean to be critical of yourself, but to rather celebrate the differences you have with your surrounding people. Don’t focus on the things you are bad at, but rather the things you are good at. Most people don’t realize or acknowledge their talents because they are too busy trying to fix theirselves or be someone else.
My final message is that being socially insecure is not embarrassing nor a problem. It is a part of progress, something you have to go through in order to grow and find out who you are. Everyday, you’re learning and growing, and someday you will realize that all of these were worth it.
