How To Not Be Socially Awkward: 20 Helpful Facts

All of you must be aware of the term “socially awkward”. Everyone has felt this in their lives at some point.

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Most people are unable to communicate their social awkwardness to their parents due to some communication gap between them. Lack of social skills is one of the important factors. Not only is it the only factor, but there are so many factors that are responsible for it.

Feeling awkward during social events is very normal for people who are suffering from this mental illness.

Yes, you read it right. It’s a mental illness, and visiting a mental health professional would be a great option.

Read on to know every little detail about it. What actually happens? How to overcome it? And the most important: “How to not be socially awkward“.

“Socially awkward” is a term in psychology that refers to people who feel uncomfortable when they are socially involved in any function or gathering. The person has a lack of social skills and is non-confident as well.

They need to struggle so much to be normal. The term in psychology that describes people who are suffering from this is having a social anxiety disorder.

Sometimes they also want to live like normal people. They also question themselves on how to not be socially awkward. They also want to make friends and hang out with them, but they just can’t because there are so many things that are going on inside them, which include fear, awkwardness, nervousness, anxiety, and so on.

Yes, there are some ways through which the person who is facing this can overcome it. However, before learning how to not be socially awkward, there are some other things you should definitely know.

2. How To Find Out If You Are Socially Awkward?

Well, it’s not hard to find out about it. The only thing you need is acceptance. Sometimes, it happens that outsiders find out about your social awkwardness by observing you. When they tell you about it, you become uncomfortable because you are in a state of denial. But, in your inner self, you also feel like it, but you don’t have enough courage to accept it.

Always remember that whenever you are suffering from some physical or mental damage, you are the first one who can feel it because you are the one who is dealing with it.

Before jumping to any conclusions, you should confirm them. So here are some symptoms that will help you to find out whether you are socially awkward or not. And if you are, then you must consider how to not be socially awkward.

Symptoms:

• Avoiding social gatherings

• Overthinking

• Low self-esteem

• Avoiding interaction

3. How Does It Affect A Person?

It’s not a bad thing, but it is not very good either. Actually, it depends on the situation. Yes, it does have a bad or negative impact on us. It affects us in both ways, physically as well as mentally, and psychology has proved it as well. If you are mentally ill or your mental health is affected by something, then it is obvious that your physical health will also deteriorate.
Due to social awkwardness, you get disconnected from other people, which includes your friends and family as well. So what happens is that your loved ones start to get away from you. You might lose them.
Your confidence will also start to decline because you don’t have anyone who can boost your confidence. Your self-esteem also goes down day by day.
Another thing that has developed in you is overthinking. It’s one of the dangerous things that has the power to kill you with your own thoughts. You start overthinking everything. Every single thing around you, whether it is related to you or not, somehow connects with you.
Don’t put yourself under pressure to learn how to not be socially awkward because it won’t help you at all.
You prefer to be alone because you don’t want to share your feelings, emotions, and thoughts with anyone. You are scared that you’ll overshare, and sometimes a thought comes into your mind regarding how to not be socially awkward. How to overcome this?
Most of the time, you will feel low because you spend all your energy overthinking. Sometimes, you’ll be hopeless in your life too, and you’ll have several kinds of negative thoughts in your mind.
It also affects your work. Basically, when you work in an office or some other workplace, you need to interact with so many different people. Social communication and social skills are the things that you must have in yourself while working in a social place.
As you already know, mental health is affected by it, so there is a high chance that people who are suffering from it can get into depression or anxiety. It’s likely that you are your own enemy. You’re always fighting with yourself. It destroys you in every aspect: physically, mentally, and emotionally.

4. Is It Good In Any Way?

Everything has some advantages and some disadvantages to it. Sometimes, staying away from social situations is good for you, and if you are not getting the thought of how to not be socially awkward, then it can be good for you.

We all know our society loves to judge everyone. They notice everything about you: your body language, your way of talking and greeting, your clothes, your behavior, and so on. They always point out your mistakes by avoiding the good things that you have done. So, in this case, it’s better to stay away from society for your own good.

Today’s generation is not interested at all in being judged by anyone. They want to be with people who are very supportive and have a positive mindset. Sometimes they feel that the thought 0f how to not be socially awkward should not come into their mind because they have accepted themselves the way they are.

Today’s youngsters need a lot of positivity in their lives because they are already suffering from depression and anxiety in their lives. So, if we look at it this way, we will conclude that it is preferable to avoid social gatherings in order to avoid being surrounded by negative people who constantly criticize you.

5. Are All Introverts Suffering From This?

No, it’s not necessary that all introverts are suffering from this mental illness. Introverts are quite comfortable with their own group of people. They don’t hesitate to convey their messages. They also share their feelings and what is running through their minds, but there is only a limited number of people to whom they open up.

They don’t have a larger circle of friends, but that doesn’t mean that their social skills are poor. It’s just that they have a small circle of friends with whom they can talk for hours, and with them, they have fun as well.

Introverts are not loners at all. It’s just that they need some space in their lives. And if you honestly think about it, we all need some space in our personal lives. So it’s fine to be alone sometimes.

6. Is It OK To Have Awkward Moments?

anxiety — Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from pexels

Everyone has faced some awkward situations in our lives. Awkward moments refer to those moments in which you are not comfortable or you feel embarrassed about your own actions. Some awkward moments make you laugh as well because every moment has a different experience and taste to it.

It is very normal to have some awkward moments in our lives, and thinking about them is also fine. The issue arises when you overthink it. Everything within your limit is fine, but when the situation gets out of hand, it starts troubling you.

You may also do self-talk during this situation, but one thing you should remember here is that this thing shouldn’t be on your mind for a long time. Just like your past relationship, you should also move on from this phase. So yes, it is OK and perfectly fine to have these kinds of situations or moments in your life.

Just make sure that these thoughts do not affect you and your mental health. As per psychology, some people have a continuous flow of thoughts on how to not be socially awkward, and due to this, they lose more confidence in their social skills. If you find it difficult to move away from your thoughts, then just remember that you need to take a deep breath and let it go.

Being shy and being socially awkward are two different terms entirely. Yes, some symptoms are the same, but both of the terms are different from each other. Shyness is a very natural thing in human behavior. It also has some positive and negative impacts on it.

Shyness is a word or term that generally refers to feeling awkward and uncomfortable in social situations. They feel difficulty expressing themselves. They cannot even make eye contact with the people with whom they are talking. They lack self-confidence. They feel anxiety while dealing with groups of people.

How Do You Overcome Shyness?

• Be confident

• Make eye contact during talking

• Try to interact socially

• Don’t overthink

Lonely Women — photo by cottonbro from pexels

Social interaction is definitely not one of the most difficult things, but it is not easy either. It depends on the person, their condition, their state of mind, and many more factors which are responsible for it.

If you are a confident person, then it will be easy for you to handle social situations, but if you are not a confident person at all, then it will be obvious for you to feel socially awkward.

Don’t let your social anxiety get the better of you. All you need to do is to be confident in yourself and start a conversation without being nervous. Share your thoughts with your friends and don’t be afraid to be judged by others. Your little effort will help you a lot during social interaction.

Have some courage and start a conversation without any hesitation. It will give you confidence during interactions. Generally, people prefer small talk during this phase but try to have long conversations with others too.

Stop feeling embarrassed or nervous during social events. Just take a deep breath and feel relaxed.

Try to interact with a group of people. It will boost your self-esteem.

Throw out the thought of being judged because it does not actually happen.

Try to participate in social activities. It will make you happy, and you will face less difficulty in social interactions as well.

The constant thinking of how to not be socially awkward has to stop.

You have already read about it. What it is, its positive and negative impact, how it affects a person, and more. But now you will get to know how to overcome it.

Generally, people who are suffering from this are self-conscious and, most of the time, they find themselves in awkward situations. You need social interaction to deal with these kinds of situations. It will be difficult, but practicing some social norms like shaking hands with others, hugging them, and making eye contact with them, will reduce your anxiety level and give you a lot of confidence.
One of the most important things to control this is to do meditation in your daily life. It will enhance your power and help you calm down. You will feel relaxed after practicing this regularly, and you will stop overthinking anything.
One thing you should always keep in your mind is that it is OK to make mistakes. Nobody is perfect here, so it’s OK to make blunders. After all, we are humans, and it’s human nature to make mistakes.
Acceptance is one of the keys to social settings. If you are in denial, then you will stay away from the reality of your life. If you start by accepting your own mistakes, then it will be easy for you to deal with your social anxiety.
People who suffer from social anxiety disorder have very few friends, and they don’t talk to them much. They usually make small talk with everyone. When they are with their friends also, there is always an awkward silence between them. We all know that silence has a lot more in itself. It can kill you from the inside, and it is really dangerous and harmful to your mental health.
To overcome social anxiety disorder, you need to interact socially with people. For this, you need to make friends. Go out with them. Spending time with them will make you feel less awkward. Ask them out and go to a coffee shop with them and have some chit-chat with them. You can play sports with them as well. Don’t play individual sports games, play team games and make sports teams and coordinate with them. It will really improve your social confidence.
Starting conversations is one of the most difficult things for people who are suffering from this mental illness. They are very confused about conversation topics, but the only way to overcome this is to talk to people.
You should attend social events and start a conversation with people there as well. Your physical appearance at social events will play an important role in breaking the awkward silences you face during social gatherings.
You should make new friends. Don’t be nervous about making friends. Interacting with different kinds of people will give you more confidence.

So these are a few things you can do in your life to overcome the fear of social awkwardness or the thought of how to not be socially awkward.

social situations — Photo by Kindel Media from pexels

10. How To Boost Self-confidence?

You already know that people who are suffering from social anxiety have very low self-esteem and their social confidence is low as well. Feeling awkward during social situations is very common, and there are so many factors like this that are responsible for a fall in confidence.

Make friends and interact with them because friends are the biggest strength. No matter what the situation is, you will always find them on your side at any point in time.

Start trusting yourself and don’t doubt yourself. It will also boost your confidence. Be courageous to start a new conversation. It will reduce the awkward silence.

Whenever you feel socially awkward, try to explain to yourself by doing self-talk that it is OK to face situations like this.

Listen carefully to what others are trying to say and just put yourself in their place for a while. Then you will understand better what the other person is trying to say.
Whenever you start a conversation, try to focus on fully interacting with the other person.
You should practice relaxation to keep your mind calm and composed. It will also reduce the stress level in your body.
Body language also plays an important role in dealing with social situations.

Not really, but it’s possible that this is one of the factors. Basically, social rules are the set of rules that accept the behavior of a person socially.

Social norms are not written anywhere. But these are informal rules according to which, your attitude and behavior are accepted by society. All you need is validation from them. These rules allow you to be in discipline, which is a good thing, and it will also help you to learn social interaction.

Sometimes, these social norms do not work for you. Because in a society, you will always feel judged. So somehow, these rules or norms may also be responsible for it.

Social cues are sign language and can be expressed non-verbally. People guess it through your actions. It is also a form of communication in which you can communicate with others through your expressions and actions.

Body language plays an important role in the case of social cues because it tells a lot about you. Through body language, you can send cues to others while interacting.

Another way through which you can interact during social situations is through eye contact. It may not seem like it, but somehow it is related to social anxiety because by sending cues you are not interacting at all. Your social skills are not increasing as well.

It could be or could not be. There are so many things in us that we get from the inheritance of our parents. So, there is a chance that the awkwardness during social events, depression, and social anxiety come from our genes.

But it would be so wrong if we put all the blame on our genes because sometimes, our own life situation is enough for it. Whenever we have an emotional breakdown, our mental health is also affected.

Due to feeling nervous, you prefer to be alone in situations when you actually need someone. You should overcome your shyness and, without feeling awkward, you should talk to people or share your condition with your parents. Maybe they can help and give you some tips on how to not be socially awkward.

People who have social anxiety disorder always feel awkward during social events, and they also feel that everyone around them is talking about them. Following this, their stress level rises and they become preoccupied with how to not be socially awkward.

After finding themselves around so many people, they become more self-conscious and their morals go down as well. They want to run away from social situations because they don’t want to face them due to low self-confidence.

Having panic attacks due to social anxiety is also quite common.

16. Will Yoga Help To Overcome This?

Of course, it will help you. You should do yoga regularly in your daily life as it is one of the best natural ways to maintain balance in your body. It will also control the flow of hormones that cause anxiety. As mental peace is a very important factor, yoga will help you to stay at peace, and it will also keep your mind calm.

Due to yoga, your mind will be relaxed. So the thought of how to not be socially awkward will be out of your mind and you will feel very light.

Yes, of course. There are so many things running through their minds, which includes the thought of how to not be socially awkward as well. So, there is a high chance of people getting into depression.

Depression is very different from social anxiety because, with depression, you can get suicidal thoughts as well. They always feel that they are a failure in every aspect of their life. They think that they have failed to build relationships. They overthink so much that they turn every normal situation into an awkward moment in their head.

They struggle so much during a conversation that they can’t say anything fluently. Most of the time, they use the words “uh-huh” while speaking.

18. Will Visiting A Mental Health Professional Help?

Mental health professionals are for mental health problems. It would be one of your best decisions if you visited them.

Mental health professionals include psychiatrists, psychologists, and counselors. You can easily express yourself in front of them, and they will listen carefully to you as well. You will automatically feel very relaxed there. You won’t feel judged there. They will really help you to get out of it and you won’t feel self-conscious at all.

19. Does Any Therapy Exist?

Yes, definitely. There are so many ways through which you can overcome your fear of being socially awkward. If you also want to get rid of the thought of how to not be socially awkward, then you should definitely visit a mental health professional. They will make you so comfortable that you will not feel awkward there while interacting with them.

Social exposure is one of the most commonly used therapies in which the patient has to face their own fear. It helps patients deal with their problems. They use various systematic techniques during this therapy.

Usually, people avoid those situations which they fear, just like people who are afraid of attending social situations. So social exposure therapy allows the patient to confront their fear. It is one of the most successful therapies as well.

20. Few More Easy Tips

● Try to open up with others. It will give you confidence in social interactions.

● If you find any situation awkward, then don’t get nervous because it’s a very normal thing.

● Don’t hesitate to start a conversation and avoid small talk with people as well.

● Try to involve yourself during social events.

● While interacting, make eye contact with them.

How To Not Be Socially Awkward?

If you are suffering from social awkwardness, then you will always feel awkward in the silence around you, even when you have someone to talk to. So, just break the barrier and try to get out of your comfort zone. You need to push yourself to overcome it.

You need to work on your social settings because your surroundings matter a lot. The environment around you has a deep impact on your behavior, attitude, thoughts, etc.

You shouldn’t think much about what others will think, how they will react, and so on. You should not depend on others for their validation and the most important thing that you should get off your mind is the thought of how to not be socially awkward, because having the same thought in your mind may increase your anxiety level and you may become more self-conscious.

Conclusion

These were the few ideas and points on “how to not be socially awkward” that you can apply in your life. Hopefully, this article will help you deal with your mental illness. By following the steps outlined here, you can easily navigate social situations, and you can get rid of your thoughts on how to not be socially awkward as well.

You don’t have to be awkward anymore!

Last Updated on August 17, 2023 by Himani Rawat

How To Not Be Socially Awkward: 20 Helpful Facts