Free Essays on Shyness

and mispronouncing them during a presentation to get over a fear of rejection or standing in a mall and asking numerous people over the course of an hour what time it is to l... Free Essays on Shyness Free Essays on Shyness What is Shyness? Shyness is a paralyzing handicap of the mind. It is responsible for many of the difficulties we face in daily life, particularly those who ore involving relationships with other people. Shyness makes it difficult to meet new people, make friends, and enjoy each manner of activities. Shyness acts on the subconsciousness, causing people to consider how they feel, and look to others. They wonder what another person will think if they do this. Shyness prevents people from expressing themselves. Their mind is not free to analyze what they should say. It leaves them no time to consider other people. A person misses out on what is happening in a gathering, and then heshe could not concentrate enough to follow. Shyness makes it difficult for a person to communicate, which prevents other people to know him or her. A person is incapable to make friends or have an intimate relationship, which causes loneliness and anxiety. These things contribute to give a person a fear of intimate contact with other people, but they can be overcome. Studies in shyness had found that there is apparently more shyness among children than adults. These could, however, be because adults learn to overcome, compensate for, or cater to shyness by adopting a particular lifestyle that will hide their loneliness and anxiety. Men and women appear to suffer from shyness in about equal numbers. Not all shy people are shy form early ages. Surroundings, teenage situation, type of school, relocation to insecure and friendly neighborhood can lead to the development of shyness. Some remarkable people ha confessed that they had been shy and they had overcome it or living with it. Shyness affects the part of the brain that enables most us to look at and analyze each situation rationally. These cause shy people to be nervous and anxious around people or in certain places or when performing certain everyday actions. Many shy people suffer anxiety in any sit... Free Essays on Shyness 10 Simple Solutions to Shyness written by Martin M. Antony, Ph.D., was the self help book reviewed. This book gave basic tips on how to overcome shyness, social anxiety, and fear of public speaking. This book was very specific in the topics covered and solutions on how to overcome them. Dr. Antony (2004) believes the most common issues that lead to the aforementioned problems are that people feel the need to be perfectionists, we are afraid of being rejected by others, genetics and chemicals (neurotransmitters) secreted by the brain can be a contributing cause, and also that these behaviors can be learned because of teasing or the high social standards held by those that are close to us. Avoidance behaviors are usually incorporated into our lives because of the feeling of anxiety and the contributing causes. Some avoidance behaviors are not very harmful, but these behaviors don’t allow the person with anxiety to learn and experience how to properly handle the feared situation. However, people with extreme social anxiety tend to integrate so many avoidance behaviors in their lives that it becomes a problem to function normally in society. Dr. Antony suggests that for people with extreme cases to seek out professional help from a qualified individual. For people with minor cases of anxiety and shyness, usually revolving around one particular situation, there are two components that can be used by themselves or interchangeably to getting help and the needed skills to cope. One alternative is to use medications approved for anxiety disorders. Another suggestion is to face your fear and allow yourself some moderate immersion in the situation. He recommends that you intentionally put yourself into the feared situation, whether it be stumbling over a few words and mispronouncing them during a presentation to get over a fear of rejection or standing in a mall and asking numerous people over the course of an hour what time it is to l... Free Essays on Shyness Childhood Shyness and Children's Literature By: Shannon Levy Understanding the Distress of Children Who Suffer from Shyness Almost everyone has felt shy at some point in his or her life. Feeling uncomfortable or anxious in a new social setting is not uncommon or something to be overly concerned about; however, there are many people whose lives suffer because of their shyness. Shyness can have many harmful effects on a person’s emotional and social well being (Bruch, 1999). Even though research on shyness has mainly focused on adults, shyness can be just as difficult, if not more difficult, for children. Because social and emotional development are so important during the school years as children are meeting and interacting with their peers, we see it as very important for teachers to be in tune with these types of developmental needs. Children’s literature is a great way to bring up and discuss emotional and social issues. We found some wonderful children’s books that teachers can use in the classroom to discuss shyness, h ow it affects people, and how to make others feel better who are shy. If you have ever known a truly shy child, you probably know how difficult being shy can be for that child. It can be very painful to see a shy child â€Å"desperately wanting to be accepted by other children yet not knowing what to do to gain their approval, or else too frightened to take the risk of trying to reach out to them† (Zimbardo, 1981, p. 4). A women expresses difficulty with having been a shy child: Growing up is painful at best, but excruciating for the shy. When others could not understand the reason for my lack of zest for life, I knew all along that my shyness was the real problem. I was terribly envious of anyone who seemed comfortable with people. Anyone who could express their thoughts verbally . . . (Zimbardo, 1981, p. 4). A child who is suffering from this much pain needs to be of concern. Anything that makes a child u...