Social Coping
A good first step to coping with social anxiety disorder is to identify the social skills that could use a bit of work. If you focus on improving those, it may help you cope with the thoughts and emotions that come with social anxiety disorder.
Assertiveness
Many people with social anxiety disorder lack assertiveness and can benefit from learning to become more assertive through self-help strategies.3
Practice becoming more assertive by communicating your needs in a calm and relaxed way that respects the needs of others. Usually, this takes the form of “I” statements such as “I feel hurt when you don’t respond to my phone calls.” Learning to say no is also an important part of being assertive and a skill that most people with social anxiety struggle with.4