Is Shyness Painful?

Do you sometimes think that you are too shy?  Shyness is very common in children, teens and adults.  All the people feel shy at sometime in their lives, but being shy most of the time can cause difficulties with day-to-day activities and relationships.  Sometimes, it is normal to feel shy, such as when facing a new kind of situation, meeting new people etc.  But people who are extremely shy feel nervous even more often.  They avoid or cancel social events, have fewer friends, think poorly of themselves, blame themselves when things go wrong etc.  Studies showed different causes of shyness.  Shyness can be because of genetic, learned behaviors, uncomfortable experiences, distracting parenting, too much threatening, tearing or criticism etc.

Whatever is the cause, shy person in most of the situations lives under stress, which the person is not able to share with someone else, which affects the person.  Shyness leads to difficulty in expressing emotions, ineffective communication, problems in school, the child most of the time remains aloof or stuck up etc.  People who never grow out of this, may become shy teens and adults.  And as the time passes, they feel more lonely and alone, cannot express their feelings and emotions in front of their friends which may lead to different types of disorders, such as anxiety disorders, selective mutism, depression or substance related disorders which affects the person’s MENTAL HEALTH.

So, care should be taken that the normal shyness does not lead to excessive shyness, which is painful for the person.  As a psychologist, Psychiatrist, parent or teacher, we can help a person who is going through a stressful situation because of his PAINFUL SHYNESS.