Abstract

There are various explanations on why people, particularly students, are slowly losing their self-esteem and one reason behind this is the escalating extent of social anxiety in the environment. Social anxiety is evident when one is terrified or uncomfortable in the idea of interacting with other people especially when they are being criticized, humiliated, and offended by them (Farmer & Kashdan, 2012). It is also a persistent disorder that causes unease and distress that is omnipresent in a person's life. Social anxiety can be associated with dispositional mindfulness in which one is aware and attentive to their own thoughts, feelings, and actions in that current state (Rasmussen & Pidgeon, 2010). The median age of onset of Social Anxiety Disorder in the United States is age 13, with 75% of those with social anxiety disorder experiencing the onset at a range of ages 8-15. As said by the National Institute of Mental Health (2014), normally, students often feel anxious in their activities at school but there are those with a social anxiety disorder that are usually petrified. They have a behavior that would result to them being avoided and rejected by their classmates. This can negatively affect their social, mental, and emotional development and this can worsen one's social anxiety. This can also lead to seclusion and absence of social relations leading to depression and alcohol or drug abuse. In Holy Family Academy, it was observed that some students are having a hard time coping with their classmates and when they are asked why, they would usually say that they are shy, insecure, or not comfortable in being the center of attraction. At the brink of social anxiety, dispositional mindfulness is said to be of aid that can mitigate the possible effects of anxiety. And particularly for those people who are at risk and currently troubled with social anxiety, this might serve as a hinge for improvement and recovery.