Change your lifestyle bit by bit. Try to exercise regularly even if you’re at home and if you can go out, go out and go for a walk or a little run. Get plenty of sleep to avoid your vulnerability to anxiety. A well rested brain gives you calm thoughts. Avoid caffeine and nicotine for they are stimulants that may increase your symptoms. Alcohol may calm you for a short time but don’t overdo it because it can also be the cause of anxiety attack.
Identify the stressful situations that you dread the most. Then, imagine and practice them until the stress has been reduced. Even if it’s difficult, attempt to eat with a friend or a family member in a public place. The next steps may be too challenging but you can do this. Muster up your courage and smile at the first person you’ll meet. Ask for directions. Give a small compliment or call somebody to make weekend plans.
Most of the time, you can’t really avoid social situations that may make you feel uncomfortable. However, you can prepare yourself for it. If you start preparing for it, your coping skills will be naturally reinforced within you and it will come out naturally in tense situations.
When you want to join a conversation, prepare for it by reading the news or finding a story that can interest you both. Imagine your most embarrassing scenario and look at it closely. You will notice that what you fear actually doesn’t happen. If an embarrassing situation actually happens, learn to manage your panic attack and remind yourself that whatever you’re feeling will pass. It will pass and nothing will happen that you can’t handle.
Practice and practice until the positive changes are embedded deep down into your brain. Your response will eventually become habitual. One day, you will automatically find yourself calmly coping with whatever situation is thrown at you.
Breathing Exercise for Anxiety Relief
The first change that happens in your body when anxiety attack happens is the noticeable, quick breathing and heaving of chest. When you inhale too much, there will be imbalance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your body. The results are additional symptoms like rapid heartbeats, suffocation, and lightheadedness.
Relaxation technique through breathing exercise will help you get a hold of the physiological symptoms that bring anxiety. Shortness of breath is one of the primary symptoms that you can easily manage. You can practice this at home to give you immediate relief when you suddenly find yourself at the center of attention.
Sit in a comfortable chair, relax your shoulders, and straighten your back. Place one hand on your chest and place the other one on your stomach. By doing this, you can feel your breathing movement while exercising.
Close your mouth and slowly inhale through your nose. Inhale deeply for four seconds and slowly count to ten. You will feel a slight movement in your stomach and your chest should stay still. While counting, open your sensitivity by noticing all the sensations on your skin.
Using your mouth, slowly exhale and push air for five to ten seconds. The hand on your stomach will move again as you push all that air out. Repeat the exercise of breathing through your nose and out of your mouth. Practice ten times daily.
Exercising regularly will make you notice the control that you have over your breathing. It’s the control you thought you didn’t have during anxiety attacks. When an attack is happening, sit down and do the breathing exercise. You will immediately notice the calming of your body and thoughts.
6 - The Confident Tips in Overcoming Social Phobia
Social phobia is more than the conventional shyness. It causes panic and panic means disorientation, fear, and physical stress. It gets in the way of life’s fun and opportunities to experience fresh and rewarding experiences. You can’t get much out of life because of it. You can change this though. Try the following tips to begin paving your way to confidence.
You must realize that anxiety is natural and inevitable. It’s a normal fight or flight response so you don’t have to beat yourself up. Even worry for what others are thinking is normal. You are not an outsider who thinks differently.
Though anxiety is natural, you must also realize that it is not reality. The monologue inside your brain that feeds your anxiety is lying. Don’t listen to the liar in the room.
Re-label your negative thoughts. Instead of thinking “I’m a failure,” say “My brain is telling me that I’m going to fail.” The difference in the statements will give you the upper hand and the perception that these are your thoughts, they are not you.
Sing your negative thoughts or say it in a funny way. Yes, it will sound ridiculous but just notice that the injection of humor will immediately lighten the seemingly heavy thought.
Do what you want to do. Do what you’re thinking and once it’s out, there are no more negative thoughts left.
Ask questions that requires more than a yes or no response. Your curiosity will make people interested in you in a positive way. This is an excellent way of cultivating new friendships.
This may be tough but accept life’s uncertainties. Life won’t always go our way. It’s the unfortunate truth and all you can do is accept and deal with it.
Know what you really want. Instead of negative thoughts, feed your brain some positivity by giving it direction. Know what you want out of a situation and focus on that.
Social phobia makes us care too much on what other people think and it paralyzes our life’s spontaneity. You can overcome this and lead the life you’ve been dreaming of. If anxiety attacks, ask yourself if what you’re thinking is important, helpful, or the truth. If the answer is no, take the small steps of pulling yourself out. There is definitely a way out.
Conclusion
Thank you again for downloading this book!
I hope this book was able to help you recognize the symptoms of social anxiety and how to overcome them.
The next step is to share this book with family and friends so they will be more aware of this kind of disorder.
Finally, if you enjoyed this book, then I’d like to ask you for a favor, would you be kind enough to leave a review for this book on Amazon? It’d be greatly appreciated!
Click here to leave a review for this book on Amazon!
Thank you and good luck!
Reverse Culture Shock:
Ways on How to Deal with and
Overcome Culture Shock
I want to thank you and congratulate you for downloading the book, “Reverse Culture Shock: Ways on How To Deal and Overcome with Culture Shock”.
This book contains proven steps and strategies on how to overcome reverse culture shock.
It discusses the stages of culture shocks and the experiences associated with it. The book provides recommendations on how to deal with reverse culture shock, strengthen existing and old relationships, and appreciate again your home country.
Thanks again for downloading this book, I hope you enjoy it!
Copyright 2015 by Valerie Wright - All rights reserved.
This document is geared towards providing exact and reliable information in regards to the topic and issue covered. The publication is sold with the idea that the publisher is not required to render accounting, officially permitted, or otherwise, qualified services. If advice is necessary, legal or professional, a practiced individual in the profession should be ordered.
- From a Declaration of Principles which was accepted and approved equally by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations.
In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.
The information provided herein is stated to be truthful and consistent, in that any liability, in terms of inattention or otherwise, by any usage or abuse of any policies, processes, or directions contained within is the solitary and utter responsibility of the recipient reader. Under no circumstances will any
legal responsibility or blame be held against the publisher for any reparation, damages, or monetary loss due to the information herein, either directly or indirectly.
Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.
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Table of Contents
1 - What Is Reverse Culture Shock?
2 - Experiences of Reverse Culture Shock
3 - Re-adjusting to Your Home Country
4 - Appreciating Your Home Country
5 - Other Important Things to Bear in Mind
Conclusion
1 - What Is Reverse Culture Shock?
You may have left home for a foreign land to study, work or do some service, only to return home and find it different from what you expected it to be. This is called reverse culture shock. It is experienced when you are returning to a place that you expect to be home but is actually no longer. It is more difficult to handle than the culture shock you feel when you go to another place, because it is unexpected and unanticipated.
Reverse culture shock involves the process of re-entry, which has two elements: 1) an idealized view of home; and 2) the expectation of total familiarity. More often, you expect to pick up where you left off. This becomes a problem when reality doesn’t match these expectations. Your home may be different from what you imagined and things may have changed. Your home may feel foreign as you discover that your friends and family have their own lives and changes have happened since you left.
You also realize that your friends and family seems to lack interest in your stories of your experiences abroad. This, and the contrast between your expectations and reality may result in feelings of alienation, frustration and mutual misunderstandings. Just like culture shock, the difficulty of readjusting will be different for each individual. But generally, the more integrated you have become as a citizen of your host country, the more difficult it is to readjust during re-entry.
Reverse Culture Shock Stages
Reverse culture shock is typically described in four stages:
Stage 1: Disengagement
This stage starts before you leave the country where you studied or worked. You begin thinking about returning home and making your preparations. It also dawns on you that it’s time to say good-bye to your friends in your host country, which you have also considered your home. The farewell parties and packing deepen your feelings of sadness and frustration. You are reluctant to leave your friends and already miss them. Or, you get so busy in your last few days that you don’t have time to ponder on your emotions and experiences.
Stage 2: Initial Euphoria
Stage 2 usually starts just before departure. You anticipate returning home and are excited and euphoric about it. It’s very similar to the feelings of excitement and fascination you had when you first came to your host country. You are very happy to see your family and friends again and they are happy to see you too. How long this stage lasts varies. But often it ends when you realize that most of your family and friends are not as interested in your experiences abroad as you expected. They will respectfully listen to your stories for a time but soon will move on to the next topic of the conversation.
Stage 3: Irritability and hostility
Because of the mismatch between reality and your expectations, you may have feelings of anger, frustration, disorientation, alienation, loneliness and helplessness without understanding why. You become irritated and critical of others and your home culture. You may also feel depressed and long to go back abroad. You feel less independent as you were in the foreign land where you stayed.
Stage 4: Readjustment and Adaptation
Then you move on to Stage 4, which is a gradual readjustment to life at home. You will find things appearing to be normal again. You will fall back into some old routines, though things are not exactly the same as when you left. You will see things differently now as you may have changed and developed new habits, attitudes and beliefs. Your personal and professional goals may also be different. The important thing to remember is that you need to incorporate the positive aspects of your experience abroad with those of your home country.
2 - Experiences of Reverse Culture Shock
People experience various forms of reverse culture shock. The following are some situations and thoughts you may have upon returning to your home country.
Reverse homesickness
You miss your friends abroad and the times you spent together. You long for the comfort and the familiarity of your surroundings overseas. You miss your daily routine. You even want to speak the language that you have learned. In other words, you experience reverse homesickness, the same feeling you had when you first arrived in your host country.
Everyone wants to see you
Of course, it’s expected that everyone wants to see you since you’ve been gone for some time. However, when they do, they ask about what you’re going to do next. And you’re not quite prepared for it. You’re still adjusting to a different time zone and haven’t the time to plan for the future. And there are so many invitations to birthday parties, christenings, weddings and get-togethers. You feel overwhelmed and stretched in all directions.
You are now different
You may feel alienated because you think everything around you has changed or that they haven’t even changed slightly. But it’s not entirely about that. It’s just that you have changed dramatically. Your experiences and exposure to another culture has changed you, but people expect you to be same.
People want you to be the same person you once were. This leaves you confused and pressured because you can’t be the same person. You feel that others do not accept the new you. You hide from them and spend time in private so you can be the real you, the you that you like to be now.
No one seems interested
When you start to talk about your experiences abroad, you see the glazed look on other people’s faces that you just later learn to shut up and do your best to go along in their conversations. You feel hurt. You think they are not interested in your life and who you are now and that you come off as boastful. But in truth, you are not bragging. You just want to share how your life was when you were away. They are part of your past. What you are now is connected to your memories, beliefs and thoughts on your experiences abroad. This makes your feel more frustrated about being home and out of place in the company of others.
You don’t like some things about your culture
You have some criticisms with the way things are in your home country. And you can’t help but feel you’re betraying your nation every time you have a negative thought about it. This is because, in your travels, you have been exposed to other ways of doing things and you liked them better. And you try to explain this to your friends but you see their eyes shout “traitor!”.
Nothing seems new
You might get the idea that there is nothing new in your home country that you can explore. And you miss travelling to new and exciting places. In truth, there is a lot of newness in your home country or even just your home town. You just have to open your eyes and search for it.
There is nothing to do
Compared to the busy life you led abroad, you suddenly find yourself with a lot of time in your hands. You don’t know what to do. You feel bored and miss the buzz of exploring new places, discovering cultures, and meeting different kinds of people. If you’ve been in a large city abroad with so many things going on, you may be frustrated by the laid-back lifestyle of your home town.
Relationships have changed
It’s not
only you that is different now; your friends have changed too. Some have their own families, while others have switched careers. You may discover that your interests have changed and you have different ideas on how to spend your time together. Your preferences in food and activities are no longer the same. You may also discover that you have drifted apart and are not as close as you used to be.
People see “wrong” changes in you
Because you are now different, some people may be critical of the changes in you. They may see these changes as “wrong”, when actually they are just different. Some of them may think that you have become sophisticated or a snob, even when you are just being yourself. Or they may find the way you dress as ridiculous as you have incorporated the fashion style of your host country. They may even think you talk funny as you find yourself inadvertently using expressions you learned abroad.
Tongue-Tied
You may have been abroad for a long time and have learned to speak fluently in the language of your host country. Upon your return, you may encounter difficulties in translating your thoughts in the language of your home country. It’s not that you have forgotten your language, it’s simply because you have rarely spoken it for a significant period of time. You have learned to think in a foreign language and it takes some time to clearly express yourself again in your native tongue. Also, some of the words in your foreign language may not have direct translations in your local language. So you may find yourself tongue-tied or limited to non-verbal communication. However, this should not worry you. It just takes time to get readjusted and with several conversations and reading, your normal speech will come back.
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