Book contents
- Reviews
- Break Free from Maternal Anxiety
- Break Free from Maternal Anxiety
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- About the Authors
- How to Use This Book
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Persistent and Distressing Worry
- 3 Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts of Harm (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)
- 4 Specific Phobias Affecting Pregnancy and the Postnatal Period
- 5 Panic Attacks and Health Worries
- 6 Feeling Anxious Around Other People
- 7 Coping with Traumatic Experiences While Pregnant and After Birth
- 8 Anxiety About Pregnancy and Birth
- 9 Anxiety and Adjusting to Motherhood
- 10 Beyond the Perinatal Period: Taking Your New Skills Forward into Parenthood
- Appendices
- References and Resources
- Selected Resources (A Complete List Can Be Found Online)
- Index
6 - Feeling Anxious Around Other People
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 October 2022
- Reviews
- Break Free from Maternal Anxiety
- Break Free from Maternal Anxiety
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- About the Authors
- How to Use This Book
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Persistent and Distressing Worry
- 3 Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts of Harm (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)
- 4 Specific Phobias Affecting Pregnancy and the Postnatal Period
- 5 Panic Attacks and Health Worries
- 6 Feeling Anxious Around Other People
- 7 Coping with Traumatic Experiences While Pregnant and After Birth
- 8 Anxiety About Pregnancy and Birth
- 9 Anxiety and Adjusting to Motherhood
- 10 Beyond the Perinatal Period: Taking Your New Skills Forward into Parenthood
- Appendices
- References and Resources
- Selected Resources (A Complete List Can Be Found Online)
- Index
Summary
Being pregnant and having a new baby attracts lots of attention and usually involves meeting a range of new people from professionals to other parents. This can be difficult if you experience social anxiety; the postnatal period can be a particularly challenging time as fears of being judged for how you are going about things are very common. Furthermore, it is easy to fall into self-criticism and self-judgements that we are not doing things well enough and that other parents are doing things better than we are. This chapter will help you understand the particular processes that keep social anxiety going and will help you develop alternative strategies that you can use to change your experience of social situations. The chapter will also help you understand the difference between high standards and unhelpful perfectionism, and what you can do to live more comfortably in your own skin as a parent and support yourself through this challenging time to become the parent you want to be.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Break Free from Maternal AnxietyA Self-Help Guide for Pregnancy, Birth and the First Postnatal Year, pp. 148 - 177Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022