Hey, you. Read this. No, no, it's OK, really. No one's watching, and I won't tell. Take your laptop to the corner if that will help:
The next time you're invited to a party but afraid to go, try approaching this: shyness may affect up to 40 percent of the population, but it doesn't have to be a life sentence.
People can overcome their shyness with preparation followed by slowly engaging themselves in new social situations, according to pshchologists.
Perhaps it comes as no surprise that one of the world's foremost experts in shyness, Bernardo Carducci, has battled with shyness himself.
[. . .]
"Shy people operate as if thy have a mirror in front of them all the time," he told LiveScience.
Genes do, however, seem to play a role. About 15 percent of babies are born with what is called an "inhibited temperament" — meaning that they react stressfully to new experiences. They might cower at the sound of a bursting balloon, for instance.
Carducci is director of something I didn't even know we had -- the Indiana University Southeast Shyness Research Institute. He says shyness can be overcome with things like relaxation training and slowly expanding one's comfort zone.
I'm not sure about that. I don't know if I'd call myself "shy," but there are extroverts and introverts, and I am definitely not among the outgoing. At the party, you can always find me standing in the corner. I prefer small groups and familiar situations. I'm nervous around new people, although I don't think it's because I particularly care what they think about me. Maybe it's from having had asthma as a kid and spending so much time alone.
Uh-oh. This seems to be about me:
Finally, shy people tend to have what Carducci calls a "limited comfort zone." They may be social and have friends, but they tend to do the same things over and over again with the same small circle of people, rather than exposing themselves to new social situations.
I think I may have been outed.
