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Social norms and cues, such as knowing when to say hello or giving people personal space, help you navigate social situations. You might have been directly taught some of these norms. Others, you might’ve picked up on by watching others.
When you witness someone fumbling one of these norms, you might cringe internally and feel embarrassed for the other person. Likewise, you probably feel your stomach turn over when you botch an introduction to someone new or slip up on your words.
➖How Do I Know If I’m Socially Awkward?
Social awkwardness isn’t a mental health issue — there’s no diagnostic criteria or even a concrete definition. It’s more of a feeling, or a collection of feelings and experiences that form a pattern in your life. These feelings and experiences often result from: —failure to notice certain social cues
—misunderstanding or not noticing others’ body language.
➖Is It bad?
Social awkwardness, in itself, isn’t a bad thing. But it can become problematic if it leads to distress due to: •people making unkind remarks.
•spending a lot of time wondering if you’ve done something wrong.
•frequently having trouble in social situations.
•wanting to make friends but struggling to connect with others.
•feeling rejected by others.
➖Does It Serve Any Purpose?
Before getting into strategies to overcome social awkwardness, it’s important to understand that social awkwardness has a few upsides.
▪️Internal Warning System: If you find yourself in an awkward situation, you might think something along the lines of, “This isn’t what I thought would happen.” You might feel a little uneasy or uncomfortable and have the urge to get away as soon as possible. This probably doesn’t sound beneficial at all. But this discomfort can motivate you to: •take action in the moment.
•take care to avoid missing similar social cues in the future.
▪️Deep Conversation Skills: Having a hard time with small talk and routine social interactions doesn’t mean you aren’t a good conversation partner. people who deal with social awkwardness “may struggle with small talk, but they’re often great at diving deep into topics they’re passionate about.”