How did Daniel tosh deal with social anxiety?
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This post answers: How did Daniel tosh deal with social anxiety according to his interview? Who is Daniel Tosh? Who are the other celebrities who suffer from social anxiety? What is social anxiety? What are the signs and symptoms of social anxiety? How to manage social anxiety using self-help techniques? How to manage social anxiety using other methods?
How did Daniel tosh deal with social anxiety according to his interview?
Daniel tosh reported that while pleasing the audience with the well-known jokes he usually puts himself into another character’s shoes and connects with the audience through that medium. This makes it easier for him to decrease his level of stress and anxiety and readily carry out social interactions.
He also mentioned that he is completely different at home than he is while on the stage with the audience in front. In that when he’s on stage he gets carried away by anything related to the jokes and on the other side when he is home, he’s generally quiet indicating a difference in personality in the two settings.
Thus, his key to managing social anxiety while on stage is by bringing about a few changes in his personality which he believes is a difficult task but becomes easy as individuals mindfully give it a thought and practice it.
He also believes that communicating with unknown people over a while helps give him a sense of confidence and makes him more spontaneous which makes it easier for him to perform and avoid thinking about the various negative thoughts and emotions that might lead to his anxieties.
Who is Daniel Tosh?
Daniel Dwight Tosh is a comedian, talk show host, public speaker, author, and executive producer from the U.S. Tosh relocated to Los Angeles to consider a career in comedy after a degree from the University of Central Florida in Marketing.
After appearing on the Late Show with David Letterman in 2001, his efforts paid off. He went on to appear in other nationwide shows, finally settling his 30-minute special on Comedy Central Presents 2 years later.
From 2009 to 2020, Tosh hosted the Comedy Central series Tosh.0, which featured popular Online short videos with Tosh’s narrative comedic dialogue. From 2010 to 2015, Daniel Tosh also embarked on his sequence of comedy journeys.
Who are the other celebrities who suffer from social anxiety?
Some other celebrities who suffer from social anxiety are:
Brian Wilson
The Beach Boys’ well-known scribe was notoriously depressed and anxious in public and when meeting new people. Through the 1960s, he wrote a sequence of famous singles and became the important symbol of the Beach Boys, one of the very few American music groups to outdo the Beatles.
Marilyn Monroe
Throughout her long career, the actress and model struggled with anxiety and depression. She was recognized to be restricted and precarious in personal, despite her desire to be one of the greatest in her domain. In that quest, she also desired a degree of anonymity from the media and the public, which, of course, the media and the public did not readily supply. She turned to drugs and alcohol to negotiate with her anxiousness, and she died of an overdose in 1962.
Ricky Williams,
Heisman Award winner and the fifth overall pick in the NFL draft, Ricky Williams was known as an oddball during his career, because no one had recognized that he started suffering from social anxiety he was often shy and reserved and did interviews in his headgear, which had a hued face shield.
However, William claims that after seeing a mental health professional and gaining insight into what he was experiencing, he began to recover. He was able to regain control of his life through cognitive behavioral therapy and pharmacotherapy.
Johnny Depp
One of today’s most renowned and popular actors, Johnny Depp, tends to suffer from social anxiety. Johnny Depp has been able to handle his anxiousness through the use of a variety of relaxation exercises and a team of psychologists. His introversion is frequently referred to as incivility by the media or the general public.
What is social anxiety?
Individuals experiencing social anxiety might feel uncomfortable being in social situations to an extent that it hampers their daily functioning, it’s sometimes referred to as a social phobia.
Individuals consider public spaces as potential spaces of humiliation and embarrassment. Social anxiety affects how a person Interact with the world around them.
Social anxiety can be differentiated from shyness. In that shyness does not affect an individual’s daily life and functioning, moreover shyness is short-lived.
On the other hand, social anxiety is persistent and negatively impacts various aspects of an individual’s life like their ability to work productively or even develop or maintain close bonds with people outside their family.
What are the symptoms of social anxiety?
The symptoms of social anxiety can be both physical and psychological.
The most significant physical symptoms of social anxiety are:
- Nausea
- Excessive sweating
- Shaking or trembling
- Lightheadedness or feeling dizzy
- Increased heart rate
The psychological symptoms that individual experiences during a social anxiety attack are:
- Excessive and intensive worry about the social situation
- Worrying days or even weeks ahead of an important social event
- Trying to camouflage themselves in the background or the need to avoid the social situation on a whole
- The need for intoxication to face a social situation
- The constant worry of being observed by others
In addition to these individuals with social anxiety may avoid social interactions such as asking another person a question when in doubt, potential job interviews, shopping, using public services like transport or washrooms, carrying out activities in public such as speaking or even eating in that matter.
How to manage social anxiety using self-help techniques?
Lifestyle changes
Apart from therapy and medication what works best to manage social anxiety is certain lifestyle changes. These may include:
- Regular exercises
- Having a balanced diet,
- Socializing and talking to people about their anxiety,
- Journal writing to express and understand one’s feelings and
- Avoiding alcohol or drugs.
Take control of your breathing
It is normal for anxiety to bring about changes in your body, for instance, increased breathing. these changes often make an individual feel uncomfortable.
One can take control of this discomfort by carrying out a few simple steps such as holding one’s breath for two seconds and slowly letting it out through their mouth.
Repeating this step several times until one feels relaxed. This is most effective when one sits down in a comfortable position with their back straight.
Carry out progressive muscle relaxation
Research indicates that certain activities such as walking, or jogging can help in killing anxiety. Another effective technique to kill anxiety is progressive muscle relaxation.
Progressive muscle relaxation involves flexing and releasing a group of muscles in one’s body which helps to maintain their attention on the feelings of this contraction and relaxation.
Prepare ahead of situations
It is best advised that people who experience social anxiety must plan ahead of these situations that make them nervous to increase their confidence.
Start small
to kill social anxiety people must start small. In that individuals must avoid big social situations and start with the situation that they are compatible with.
For instance, one can start by going for lunch with friends and family members rather than with a set of individuals that whom they’re not familiar or confident.
Push back negative thoughts
One very effective way to kill social anxiety is to focus and work on one’s negative thoughts actively.
Think about the negative thoughts that one has about a particular situation and write them down. Following this, the person is required to write down positive thoughts that challenge the negative ones.
Sensory awareness
One’s senses can help them calm down while they feel anxious in any situation. For some people trying to look at photographs that give them a sense of happiness or using a particular scent that can help to distract them from the negative thoughts and reconnect with more positive ones can help to kill the anxiety at the moment.
How to manage social anxiety using other methods?
Like other physical conditions, even social anxiety has different approaches for its management and treatment. Some people might only need a single type of treatment while others might require a combination of approaches.
Some of the ways to manage or treat social anxiety disorders are:
Cognitive-behavioral therapy
Cognitive-behavioral therapy helps an individual to control their anxiety by using strategies like relaxation and breathing. It works on the principles of replacing negative thoughts with positive ones.
Exposure therapy
Exposure therapy is a kind of therapy in which an individual is exposed to a particular situation that they usually fear in a graded manner.
It usually starts with exposing the individual to a situation that is least triggering when the individual gets comfortable with this situation introduced or exposed to them with each session individuals become comfortable with a real-life situation that is otherwise anxiety-provoking.
Group therapy
As the name suggests group therapy usually involves two or more individuals who are experiencing similar symptoms and problems.
It is based on the principle that when an individual interacts with other people who are suffering from the same condition or fears they might not feel left alone or isolated.
This kind of therapy also helps in developing and maintaining social skills or techniques to interact with people in other social settings.
Prescribed medication
Social anxiety can also be treated with the help of medication prescribed by a health professional. There are different types of anxiety medications each with its benefits and side effects.
Online therapy
Individuals with social anxiety can also seek therapy online. This would involve interacting with the therapist one-on-one over an audio or video call.
Some individuals with social anxiety might be more comfortable seeking help through this mode than others while in a different case some might prefer face-to-face therapy sessions.
Conclusion
Experiencing social anxiety can be overwhelming for many individuals. Individuals always feel that they are on a stage being judged by other individuals and they are most vulnerable to rejection and humiliation. However, individuals must actively seek professional help and medication from their respective mental health professionals to carry out an optimal living.
Citation
How Comedy Aids Daniel Tosh’s Social Anxiety
https://blog.learntolive.com/social-anxiety-celebrities-ii/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Tosh
https://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/tips-for-living-with-social-anxiety
https://www.verywellmind.com/work-anxiety-4692762
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