Dealing With Social Anxiety at Conventions

It’s the summer (in my part of the world!) and it’s definitely well and truly convention season! I love conventions and I’m so glad I’ve got into going to them, I’ve met so many cool people with similar interests to me that I wouldn’t have met otherwise.

... But it hasn’t always been that way. In 2014, I admired conventions, I desperately wanted to go but there was this massive barrier. I had crazy social anxiety. When I thought about going to Comic Con or Hyper Japan, I felt sick. ‘What if I didn’t fit in?’, ‘What if I people think I’m dressed stupid?’ 

Obviously, anybody who’s been to conventions will know that it was a silly way to think and that conventions are most often filled with lovely people who love seeing all sorts of people dressed in all sorts of ways! But in 2014 I didn’t know that and I was definitely too scared to find out! 

Just know, if you have anxiety and you want to go to a convention, it’ll probably be really, really hard but I believe in you! You will be able to have an awesome time! 

Load video

So I made this video which is all about my anxiety at conventions and how it’s taken time (2-3 years!) but I’ve slowly managed to go from somebody not even able to go to conventions to somebody who managed to go all by myself! Which for some of you might probably seem completely impossible!

So for those who don’t want to watch the video, here are some of the main tips:

1) Give yourself a Goal. Something you’ll be proud of if you managed to achieve, for example I set my goal in 2015 as being able to tell an artist I liked their work. That’s it. I managed to do it and it left me beaming with happiness (and hopefully them too!) - Just make sure you don’t set yourself to high a goal, especially if your anxiety is really bad, going from not even being able to step foot in a convention to being in a fashion show is probably unattainable and will leave you feeling sad if you try!

2) Don’t be afraid to recollect. Cons are notoriously busy and for a lot of people just being around that many people for a long length of time is going to make you feel on edge. So definitely don’t be afraid to take a break, go outside and come back in when you are feeling more refreshed.

3) Have a back-up plan. My Social anxiety CBT therapist said this wasn’t always a good thing if you are trying to recover but if you are suffering very badly from social anxiety I do believe it can possibly help you. (Also remember I’m not a therapist though lol) Make sure you know what you’d do if you couldn’t cope and you had to leave to convention early. Maybe you know there’s a starbucks or a park near the convention that you could go to. Make sure your friends/ parents/ who you are going with are aware this is where you’d want to go.

Final Note...

Conventions are such a happy place and it’s a shame Social Anxiety prevented me from going for SO long. I’m sure there must be others out there. Just know that everytime I’ve been to a con I’ve left feeling so glowing and happy, whether I’ve managed to talk to a lot of people or not. I don’t think social anxiety will have a massively negative impact on your experience. A lot of the convention community will understand shyness and you will not feel pushed or pressured to talk to anyone if you don’t want to!!

I hope you have an amazing time at conventions in the future! They are honestly some of the highlights of my year! 

Don’t forget to pick up a giant alpaca toy lol!

Zono xxx