Mental health
Social anxiety – what it is and how to overcome it
By Mandana Ahmadi, founder and CEO of Alena
Have you ever experienced the flutter of butterflies in your stomach when approaching a conversation with someone? Have you found yourself debating whether to attend a party where everyone is unfamiliar? Have you ever felt profound regret over something you said, causing sleepless nights?
These are all telltale signs of social anxiety, a common yet often overlooked condition that quietly exerts control over our lives.
Left unaddressed, social anxiety can lead to significant comorbidities such as depression, substance abuse, and eating disorders. However, the good news is that social anxiety is highly treatable.
Social anxiety itself is not inherently negative; it serves as an essential function in creating effective societies where individuals care for one another and understand their place in the larger community. However, when social anxiety becomes impaired—whether excessive or lacking—it hinders our ability to tap into the resources that society offers.
This struggle often underlies the development of comorbidities: we feel down and spiral into depression when we can’t advance in our careers despite our potential and skills, we turn to drinking or comfort eating to soothe our anxiety, and the accumulated sleep debt harms our overall health.
By addressing the root cause, which can sometimes be social anxiety, we can reverse these negative patterns.
Social anxiety is influenced by various cognitive functions, which, when impaired, intensify social anxiety or drive it to suboptimal levels. Four major drivers include the rumination function, avoidance behaviour, accurate perception of others’ opinions, and attentional focus during social interactions.
Here at Alena this is our area of expertise, and the Alena app can help measure the health of these cognitive functions and provide scores, followed by cognitive behavioural therapies that target these specific areas. While there is no instant remedy for social anxiety, there are steps you can take.
The first step towards overcoming social anxiety is to recognise that it is a common and normal experience. Many people struggle with social anxiety, but it often remains misunderstood.
By acknowledging it, you are already on the path to overcoming it. Understand that your anxious feelings are more a product of how your brain processes information rather than an accurate reflection of how others perceive you.
When anxiety strikes, there is a tendency to want to escape, hide, or distract ourselves from the discomfort. Instead, allow yourself to experience those feelings and focus on calming your body through slow breathing techniques commonly used in meditation.
By slowing down, you can help your body break free from the fight-or-flight response. Shift your attention away from your inner thoughts and redirect it towards the external world. This can be done by immersing yourself in the sounds around you or paying close attention to the visual details in your surroundings.
You will notice a sense of relief as your attention releases from the internal spiral, leading to a lighter and less tense state.
Next, try to imagine yourself in the shoes of someone you love who is going through a similar situation. Consider how you would talk to them and evaluate the seriousness of the situation if it involved them.
By adopting an external perspective, you distance yourself from your own anxious thoughts and gain a more objective view of reality. This helps to ground you in the present moment.
Lastly, the most effective way to overcome social anxiety is through exposure to small social events and gradually increasing your comfort zone.
Often, you will realise that nothing catastrophic happens, challenging the belief that social situations are as major and terrifying as they may seem. By incrementally expanding your social experiences, you will build confidence and realize that you can handle them.
Remember, you are not alone, and overcoming social anxiety takes time and effort. With the right support, strategies, and a gradual approach, you can regain control of your life and thrive in social situations.
Mandana Ahmadi is the founder and CEO of Alena. Mandana is dedicated to tackling the world’s mental health crisis, starting first with social anxiety. She has worked with the International Brain Laboratory, and achieved her PhD in computational neuroscience from UCL Gatsby.
Mental health
Dr-Julian helps deliver breakthrough mental health support for Black and ethnically minoritised mothers
A groundbreaking digital perinatal mental health pilot for Black and ethnically minoritised women has helped women access support faster, complete therapy at higher rates, and recover more successfully than national averages.
The partnership between digital tech company Dr-Julian and The Essential Baby Company Ltd within a new model of mental health care named haPPIE SHE Cares – who offer personalised support for women sharing their healthcare experiences, showed results well above NHS benchmarks for Black and ethnically minoritised women.
The pilot was created to help women who are less likely to use traditional mental health services during pregnancy and in the first year after giving birth.
By combining trusted community referrals, culturally aware support, and fast access to therapy through Dr-Julian’s online and virtual care platform, the programme delivered standout results.
Every woman who joined the pilot started therapy, 90 per cent completed treatment, and 74 per cent recovered; well above the NHS benchmark of around 52 per cent.
Women referred through community organisations accessed support in just one day on average, compared with around 21 days through many standard services.
Even the programme’s regular referral route reduced waits to 13 days.
The findings come as NHS leaders continue to focus on maternity inequalities and unequal access to mental health care.
Black and ethnically minoritised women can face barriers including stigma, language needs, lack of trust in services, childcare pressures, and difficulty navigating complex systems.
The haPPIE SHE Cares model was designed to break down those barriers by working with trusted community groups, offering culturally informed support, and where possible matching women with therapists who understood their background or language.
Gemma Poole for The Essential Baby Company said: “Too many women who need help feel unseen, unheard or unable to get support when they need it most.
“This project shows that when services are built around trust, culture and community, women engage, recover and thrive.
“This early success could provide a blueprint for reducing inequalities in maternal mental health care across the UK. Behind every statistic is a mother who felt supported, a family that benefited and a woman who found her voice.
“Mental healthcare must work for every community. This partnership shows that when high-quality therapy is combined with culturally responsive support, outcomes improve and women get help faster.
We are proud to have provided the therapists, virtual care systems and digital pathways behind this programme. We believe this model could help NHS organisations nationwide cut waiting times and improve recovery rates.”
Women who took part described the programme as life-changing, saying it reduced isolation, gave them confidence speaking with healthcare professionals, and made them more willing to seek help.
With growing pressure on maternity and mental health services, leaders behind the project say the pilot offers a practical solution that improves care while helping cut long waiting lists.
Plans are now being explored to expand the model through training, regional partnerships, and future funding.
Poor sleep may signal higher Alzheimer’s risk in older women with greater genetic risk, a study suggests.
Older women who reported poorer sleep also showed greater memory difficulties and more Alzheimer’s-related brain changes, the study found.
That pattern appeared only in women with higher genetic risk, suggesting sleep complaints may be a stronger warning sign for some women than for others.
Researchers examined 69 women aged 65 years and older taking part in the Women Inflammation Tau Study, an ongoing project focused on ageing and Alzheimer’s disease risk.
Participants completed questionnaires about their sleep quality, underwent memory testing and received brain scans measuring tau. Tau is a protein that accumulates abnormally in Alzheimer’s disease.
The study found that poorer self-reported sleep was associated with worse visual memory performance and greater tau accumulation in brain regions affected early in Alzheimer’s disease, but only among women with higher genetic risk.
Women with lower genetic risk did not show the same relationship between sleep complaints, memory and tau build-up. The finding was specific to visual memory and was not observed for verbal memory.
Researchers said the results add to growing evidence that sleep disturbances and Alzheimer’s disease may reinforce one another over time.
Previous studies have suggested that disrupted sleep can contribute to the build-up of abnormal tau proteins, while Alzheimer’s-related brain changes may also interfere with healthy sleep patterns.
Because women account for nearly two thirds of Alzheimer’s cases and frequently report poorer sleep quality than men, the researchers said sleep may represent an important and potentially modifiable risk factor in older women.
The authors noted that self-reported sleep assessments are inexpensive and easy to administer, raising the possibility that sleep complaints could help identify people who may benefit from closer monitoring or early intervention.
They also suggested that improving sleep could become a target for future Alzheimer’s prevention strategies, particularly for women at elevated genetic risk.
Women over 40 are seeking raves for mental and physical wellbeing, with a study suggesting the benefits go beyond nightlife.
The findings challenge the idea that nightlife and electronic dance music events are mainly for younger people.
Published in Psychology of Music, the study focused on the common misconception that nightlife is only for younger audiences.
Researchers surveyed 136 female clubbers aged 40 to 65 about their experiences at electronic dance music events.
The study, carried out at the University of Leeds in England, found women reported mental and physical wellbeing benefits from attending these events.
Seeing favourite DJs was the most common motivation, but many women also described dancing as a way to relieve stress and find emotional support.
The research found that 65.9 per cent of participants described attending a rave as “spiritual”, while 62.9 per cent said it offered an escape from everyday life.
A further 58.3 per cent said they felt like a different version of themselves in a club environment.
Nine in ten participants said they felt at home at electronic dance music events, with many pointing to a shared passion for music and the sense of community around it.
The study also suggested physical fitness played a role, with some women saying they had made clubbing part of their regular exercise routine.
However, the findings also highlighted challenges for older women in nightlife spaces.
One fifth of participants said they felt visibly out of place because of their age.
Nearly half reported unwanted physical contact, leading some to seek out different venues or attend only with friends.
Entrepreneur4 weeks agoFuture Fertility raises Series A financing to scale AI tools redefining fertility care worldwide
News3 weeks agoWomen’s digital health market set to reach US$5.28 billion in 2026 – report
Diagnosis4 weeks agoNew meta-analysis further supports low re-excisions and high placement accuracy with the Magseed marker
Pregnancy4 weeks agoNIPT or NT scan? Why the 2026 evidence supports doing Both
Menopause4 weeks agoResistance training has preventative effects in menopause, study finds
Mental health4 weeks agoLifting weights shows mental health and cognitive benefits in older women, study finds
Insight3 weeks agoWhy the UK’s fertility rate keeps falling – and what it means if you’re trying now
Wellness3 weeks agoWomen’s HealthX unveils Northwell Health, Corewell Health, Biogen & more to headline Chronic Disease stage
Pingback: The femtech founder’s stress toolkit - FemTech World