How do I attend my online classes (video conferencing) when I have terrible social anxiety? My classes are important but I don't think I can attend them.

I would recommend joining the video conference, but turning off your camera and microphone. This way, you can be sure that no one is looking at you or paying attention to you, which can be extremely stressful. Most teachers like their classes to be muted anyway, so that they can teach in a silent setting. If your classes are meeting on google meets or zoom, the teacher usually has screen presenting on and no one will notice if a student doesn't have their camera on. If you absolutely cannot join these calls, be honest and email your teacher about it to see if you can receive work and instructions separately. More often than not, teachers will understand that the current situation creates various issues and will try to help you out.

how much do you have to participate in the class? do you have to turn on the camera? if not you can just attend and be listening. If it is a must you may try to attend but kind of wear a mask face, don't look directly to the camer. By the time you may get so involved in what's going on in the class itself, so that would make it easier for you. Another question how was it for you to attend classes in physical? did you have the same feelings? how you were overcoming them? you can use the same strategies. I believe that online attendance is less social then being physical in the class. So it should be much easier. Try once and see how is it going. Good luck

Maybe it will help to get into comfy clothes and go to the place you like the most so you have a nice, comfortable atmosphere. If its possible, you may join the online class without video. But if so, you also don't need to worry. The other people will focus on the topic. So maybe it will also help to focus just on what the professor will tell and not on the other people. Maybe there is also some kind of functionality that you just see the slides of the presentation and the person which is talking right now.

Hi, I hope you are doing okay. I have a somewhat similar experience to share and I hope that helps you too. I have been an ambivert and since my childhood, I have never experienced social anxiety the way I did when college and classes shifted to the online mode. I started being overly self-conscious and worried of 'how I look' or 'how I sound' and what others might be thinking of me. It felt as if everyone's noticing everything that I am doing. I struggled with doing the bare minimum at one point. I wished to be entirely invisible and absolutely loathed any professor calling out my name again and again. I even started missing out on my classes and ran the risk of falling short on attendance in the third semester. Social Anxiety - something I experienced in full blow at the age of 21, for the first time ever online. I even had a panic attack experience once when a new professor again asked us all to introduce ourselves. That's how bad it got for me and I realized that this was not okay. I was not okay. I thought online should have been easier but it was like everyone was sitting in the same front row/seat and I just did not feel like attracting any attention to myself. I terribly missed my older, offline version - where at least I didn't panic or hesitate too much when asked a question. Having given the context, I would also like to share with you what all helped me: 1. Being kind to myself, hearing to myself and acknowledging my bodily experiences (even crying a lot, because I felt like crying) 2. Talking with a trusted known person - I shared what I was going through with my mother and a friend; they listened to me and helped me gain perspective, to look at my experiences from a different angle 3. Taking things one thing at a time, breathe. Don't rush yourself. Placing my hand on my chest, or hugging/holding myself helped me when I couldn't control my racing thoughts. 4. Noticing my avoidance tendencies and consciously making an effort to not engage in it - because it proved to be unhealthy and risky in the long run (I could have failed my course)