What Happens When You Smile at Everyone I Exposure Therapy for Social Anxiety

I've recently found your channel. I'm 40 years old, I've got social anxiety and struggle to bring myself to approach women. I know exposure is the best way to combat the feeling of rejection but I'm stuggling to make my first approach.

I don't have a problem with looking at people in the eye and smiling, I'm terrified when I'm the center of attention. That's something I really need to expose myself more.

Interesting

Im suffered from this for more than 10 years, i always look down when someone is approaching me, ive tried so hard not to look away

Nobody looked at you, but why does it feel like everyone is looking at you when you walk with your head down?

I have a question
How can I do exposure without making
The exposure as an obsessive behavior
I don't want to smile always as I walk
I think this topic is important and if you can do a video about this
Thanks!

Walking by people gives me so much anxiety. This video was extremely helpful.

I have this issue of looking at men for fear they may mistake my kindness for romantic/sexual interest I sweat so much when having to look at customers at work at times

This also proves to everyone with spot light anxiety that no body is even paying attention to us or judging us, this guy can’t even get the spot light by trying .

Yet my dumb psychiatrist prescribe me olanzapine instead of giving exposure therapy

Thank you for this❤

That is so interesting! Thank you very much for posting this video. Recently i heard that you should make eye contact, when you go to a festival. The aim is to see that people are smiling back and then you feel good.
Yesterday and the day before i tried exactly that for several hours at a festival. No one, but really no one was smiling back. I felt like a ghost. That is a big relieve because it tells you, you can do whatever you want, people will hardly notice it, if at all.
Still i was a bit confused about how to make contact with people when trying it by just looking is such a glorious fail!
What a great coincidence to find that video today.

Do NOT smile at EVERYONE!!! It's ok to smile at most people but you don't want to set aside your common sense and ability to discern who you definitely should not smile at. That would include anyone who looks "hard" or gang related. As a matter of fact, it's dangerous to deliberately make eye contact with them. Especially if you're a guy, you making eye contact with them could easily make them think you're challenging or "mad dogging" them.

Pro tip : don't do it in Russia

Have you really read all those books?

Bro i watch many videos to overcome my anxiety but at the time of making eye contact my brain is like ' no,no,no, you are bad looking what will they think about u' so i look down or here and there but dont look at them, but it feels bad when i think about that situation🙁

wow this just showed me everyone isn’t worried about you. i always feel like people are staring at me when i walk past(even though i can’t tell cause im not directly looking at them.)

Thank you Thomas. Seeing this example played out helps immensely. I've been working on my social anxiety but walking past people without being nervous has been a struggle lately. I'm going to get over this fear.

That was really interesting.

I feel / think its the opposite. If nobody is looking at you, you feel like a ghost in public spaces. I feel it would be better if ppl look briefly in each other eyes just to show they are there and exist. Ofcourse you can not do this all the time, but I see now it ks the oppositie, nobody is looking to anyone, even when you try to make eye contact like you showed in this video. There is also research about this. If everyone ignores each other all the time, I believe this actually creates an anxiety effect, at least this is what I noticed.

My hands are sweating watching this

If this took place in the UK, you would just be taken for a grinning nutter.

Wow, that's sad! I guess I'm happy to live in Lithuania where I get many eye contacts in the street.

I think the outcome might also depend on the respective environment. I’m living in a 3k ppl town and here people look more at each other I reckon. In a busy or urban environment I tend to restrict my focus more