I find representations of social anxiety in books really helpful in improving my understanding of social anxiety.
If you are a person who experiences social anxiety, it is really comforting and helpful to read about someone who might feel similarly to you. But even when I don’t relate, I find it helps me to be more empathetic to how others might be feeling. I also often find that I notice thoughts or behaviours in characters that I hadn’t realised before could be related to social anxiety.
Some books I’ve read that describe feelings of social anxiety or characters experiencing social anxiety include Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeywell, Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella and Anxious People by Fredrik Backman. Does anyone else have any recommendations? 😊