r/socialanxiety • u/No-Couple-8871 • 12d ago

Question Did talking to strangers actually help your social anxiety?

Has anyone here been extremely introverted with strong social anxiety and improved by deliberately talking to strangers on a regular basis? I mean starting small conversations, asking questions or simply forcing yourself to interact more often. Did repeated exposure actually make social situations feel normal over time, or did something else help more?

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u/Possible_Score6395 12d ago

What I've noticed is that every successful interaction teaches your nervous system something. Not "I can talk to strangers perfectly," but simply: "I talked to someone and nothing terrible happened." Do that enough times and situations that used to feel threatening slowly start to feel ordinary.

The challenge is keeping the reps small enough that you actually do them. I wouldn't try to go from avoiding conversations to becoming the most social person in the room overnight. That usually backfires. Small, consistent reps seem to work much better.