Psychologists say it and we also say it: that shyness can be overcome. Around shyness innumerable theories, legends and proposals are created, not all of them with foundation. Although we know what it means to be a shy person and also its consequences, we are wondering what the Psychology of shyness says.
Shyness from the point of view of Psychology
- Psychology offers different definitions of shyness, but they all point to a personality trait that is characterized by poor social skills, great insecurity, and quite introversion. What does it all mean? Psychologists explain it to us in the form of unsociable people, fearful of acting in public and with enormous limits in terms of social relationships.
- From this one can intuit the number of negative consequences that shyness can cause, from emotional disorders such as anxiety or depression to physical ailments caused by the somatization of the problem. According to some psychologists, shyness is a mild form of social phobia, with all that this implies when seeking treatment.
- If many times we bet on overcoming shyness with our own means, improving self-esteem, gaining self-confidence and practicing exercises for shyness, specialists bet on different psychological therapies to forget about shyness once and for all.
- Among the most successful psychological therapies when it comes to overcoming shyness are neurolinguistic programming and cognitive-behavioral therapy. While neurolinguistic programming therapy focuses on transforming negative language into a more positive and success-directed one, cognitive-behavioral therapy works by modifying negative behaviors that perpetuate shyness.