The Best Social Anxiety Books

Anxiety

We are great believers in our clients understanding the mechanics of their social anxiety and how it can prevent them from living a full life. When you understand exactly why your anxiety may be triggering you can create strategies for change. Apart from working with a therapist one of the best ways of learning about anxiety is through reading which is why we have compiled a list of the best social anxiety books out there on the market to help you tackle your worries and fears.

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Books on Social Anxiety

Reading self-help literature is a great way of learning about other people who have been in your situation and who have overcome their social anxiety. Nobody is doomed to live with social anxiety all their life. It is incredibly treatable providing the person using the self-help methods or getting therapy is willing to try and push themselves out of their comfort zone if only a little bit at a time.

In our list of the best social anxiety books, the authors will give you strategies and methods to create change. These may be in the form of their own stories, worksheets, exercises or even positive visualisation. Read around and find the things that work for you. Remember that no one strategy works for everyone so sometimes it is a matter of trying a few things before seeing what fits.

Also, remember that a little patience is required. Anxiety makes people seek miracle cures that will stop their worry in seconds but the reality is that usually, it takes a little time to see change. Perseverance pays off as bit by bit the strategies you start to use should create change.

So what are the best social anxiety books? Well, read on to discover our top picks.

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Overcoming Social Anxiety and Shyness

The Social Skills Guidebook by Chris MacLeod looks at the three main areas where people have difficulty socially. These include mental barriers, less well developed social skills and a lack of a good social life. In the guidebook, each chapter looks at how you can improve each of these areas to create the social experience you want.

In particular, the book looks at dealing with unhelpful thinking that can hold you back and get in your way. Improving your self-esteem so that you believe in your self-worth and reduce doubts and fears. Practical steps on how to get over awkward silences and how to make and manage conversations. Plus how to start to make friends and keep those friendships going. There is even a chapter on managing social skills with Asperger’s. This is a great book at setting realistic expectations and giving you the practical skills to create positive change.

Social Anxiety Workbook

If you are looking for books on shyness and how to overcome it then the next workbook is certainly worth a look. The Shyness and Social Anxiety Workbook by Martin Anthony and Richard Swinson contains the very latest research and techniques to help you over problems with social phobia.

This book is jam-packed with activities and suggestions to help alleviate social anxiety. There are chapters on mindfulness, medications, exposure therapy and much more. The writers hope that by working through each of the chapters you will be able to explore your fears and strengths so that you can create positive change. In fact, your personalised plan of action from the book should equip you to deal with social settings and moving forward into a new lifestyle.

The Solution to Social Anxiety

The best social anxiety books are usually written by people with first-hand experience of the problem and How to Be Yourself by Ellen Hendrikson is no exception. Ellen is a long term social anxiety sufferer and expert at the same time. She has spent a good part of her career helping people to overcome the condition.

In this book, Ellen teaches you about social anxiety and how it can rewire your brain. She believes that everyone has the capacity to overcome the condition with the right help. In particular, she discusses how to silence the inner critic which is the part of your mind that makes you doubt yourself and criticises what you do. With the right tools and information, it is possible to become more confident and deal with social situations without always feeling fear.

Best Books for Overcoming Social Anxiety

If there is one common problem that we hear time and time again with our clients who experience social anxiety it is that they believe they have nothing important to say or add to a conversation. They keep quiet in social situations because they genuinely believe that what they have to say isn’t interesting enough or important. What they are forgetting is that in just about every situation everyone else is in the same boat but they just make small talk.

Small Talk Aston Sanderson works on helping you to manage work events, dinner parties or even blind dates by using his improved social skills techniques. He teaches you how to start conversations and keep them going. How to read and learn body language and build confidence in your abilities. Plus how to understand the importance of practice in perfecting these skills so that you have better results.

This is the perfect book for adults who are looking for help with the art of conversation. Just make sure you buy the accompanying workbook that is linked with the main title.

Anxiety Workbook for Adults

The best books for social anxiety are designed as we said earlier to help you understand why you have social anxiety. Social Anxiety by James Williams actually delves into the evolutionary causes of social anxiety and shyness to give you the bigger picture surrounding your problem. This knowledge can be really helpful at demystifying the unhelpful feelings so that you can move forward.

James also takes the time to explain the difference between social anxiety and shyness as they are absolutely not the same thing. We can all have moments of shyness but not all of us suffer from social phobias. Plus of course, the book gives some tips and strategies to overcome your problem with some daily management methods.

How to Overcome Social Anxiety with Books

We know that therapy can be a great way of making changes to the way that you think. Cognitive behavioural therapy, for example, is one of the number one therapies in the world to help people with issues related to anxiety and depression. CBT is a way of listening in to your unhelpful thoughts and thinking about your associated actions and then questioning what you are doing and why. When you start to probe into the thought processes that underpin most of your actions it can open your eyes to alternative ways of seeing and doing things.

The Anxiety and Worry Workbook by Clark and Beck uses CBT worksheets to help you do just that. With their worksheets and exercises, you can start to begin to recognise your triggers and take practical steps towards changing old thought patterns. Just note that this book does require you to do your homework. As we always say to our client’s therapy isn’t magic it requires a little effort to get changes but when you take the time you can create life-changing results.

Social Phobia Workbooks for Teens

Our client’s problems with social anxiety never start in adulthood but begin when they are children or teenagers. That is why it is so important to start tackling the problem as soon as it begins rather than allowing it to take root so that it is harder to deal with in adulthood.

The best social anxiety books list, therefore, had to include the Social Anxiety Workbook for Teens Sally Stevens. This book talks about everything from mindfulness to acceptance and cognitive restructuring to help teens deal with problematic social situations. Plus it helps by recommending a customized plan to help teens thrive in school which is often neglected in other books.

We love the brain training sections of the book to help lower anxiety levels and the exploration of positive outcomes rather than negative ones.

Confidence and Social Anxiety Books

Finally, last but not least in our list of the best social anxiety books, we have How to Talk to Anyone by Liel Lowndes. She has written 92 tricks that can help you in your personal and your business relationships. She wants you to be the person who walks in the room and owns it rather than be the person looking on. Her strategies include help in body language, gestures and compliments.

This book is probably more useful for people who are already managing their social anxiety better and would like to take things up a notch. The advanced tactics are particularly useful for helping you to learn how to work a room and create influence rather than standing by on the sidelines.