The worst part is after
I think the worst part of social anxiety is actually the day or so after a trigger event when you (or maybe just me?) mentally replayand rehash every single comment, thought, and action... I can't seem to break the cycle of beating myself up! (This time is not so bad, though. That's a relief.)
I do the same thing, sometimes even a week later. If anyone has any advice, please share.
I don't have social anxiety so it is likely the extent to which I do this is much reduced, however I wanted to reach out none the less. I often run over conversations many times, and think what I could have said and what would have been better to say ect. It can seem very annoying and stressful and make you think that it has the effect of reducing your self esteem, I used to be sure of this. Then I considered that prehaps it works like dreaming and allows you to evaluate the situation in order to have a better response next time unconsciously, now I may well be wrong, but seeing it from that perspective and reducing the level of stress I felt over something that was uncontrollable, did help a little.
That's an interesting way to look at it, thanks, Miracle! I'm not sure how much it will help, but I will give it a try.
I get that quite frequently, I've even been known to think about situation that have occurred months ago that have no relevance to anything that's happening in the present.
Usually, I try to focus of the future and the present, or if I must think about the past then experience where I did well. I feel like a lot of anxiety is based on the fact we get locked onto the negative aspects of ourselves. Try and actively recall the things that you're good at and what you like about yourself, so you can prepare for future events.
