I’ve noticed a recent trend in the type of questions and issues teenagers are trying to cope with. A lot of people suffer from chronic shyness and don’t know what to do to overcome it. The problem almost always leads to social problems with peers and sometimes with family members.
There is a reason for this shyness and it’s most likely attributed to an event that has been locked in memory for some time. Perhaps a teacher, friend, or family member said something to you that really hurt and lowered your confidence causing you not to want to share your opinion or voice about anything. Nine times out of ten chronic shyness could be blamed on a traumatic childhood experience where an individual was humiliated in front of other people.
But now that you’re older you’ve grown up with a problem of which you need to solve. The only way to do it is to talk about it and find what is causing it. To eliminate shyness the best thing you can do is participate in clubs at school and take drama and public speaking classes to build up your confidence. These classes show you how to deal with social situations and succeed in them. It will give you some practice for dealing with other people and sharing your ideas.
The other thing is that you’ll need a workshop in social skills and coping strategies for social situations. To conquer the problem the individual should see an adolescent therapist who will create a program for that person.
The goal is to learn social skills, figure out why you have problems with interacting with others, and to meet people your age that need friends as well. It’s a lot of fun as you’ll meet individuals your own age with the same problem and you’ll get to work with helping each other. Shyness can be overcome but you have to put the effort in to deal with the problem.