How to Navigate Dating With an Anxiety Disorder

More than 40 million adults have issues with anxiety disorders. For some people, dating can be a real anxiety-provoking event. If you’re one of those people with anxiety, you may have trouble meeting new partners or keeping up existing relationships.

Dating should be fun, so don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Just relax and enjoy getting to know someone new. Here are some tips for dating with anxiety:

Talk to a Therapist

If your anxiety is terrible, it might be helpful to see a therapist before you start dating. They can help you manage your anxiety and give you some tools to deal with stressful situations.

They can also help you discover skills you can use to prepare for future dates. And things you can do while on the date that will help you keep your anxiety from keeping in and convincing you to flee.

It will take time for you to actively practice the skills you learn in therapy, but as long as you’re willing to do the work, you can improve the way you approach dating when you’re also dealing with anxiety.

Depending on the licensing obtained by the therapist, they might be able to prescribe some medication that can help you manage your anxiety symptoms.

Communicate With Your Date

Another item on our list of dating tips is to communicate from the beginning. Before you go on your first date, or if you’re currently dating, you might not think telling people you deal with anxiety is something you should do.

What if we told you that communicating you have anxiety is one of the first things you should do?

This is because you want to start a relationship off on the first foot, and you never know how communicating with your date can help you find a solution that will make dating less overwhelming for you.

Also, it’s easier to navigate other issues that might come up if you choose to continue dating this person.

Fight to Be Positive

When something starts to go wrong in life, it can be easy to allow your mind to be overcome with negative thoughts. When you feel these thoughts creeping in, do everything you can to stay positive.

For example, you might be getting ready for a date and don’t like the outfit you’ve picked out. Because you begin to feel negative about the outfit, you start coming up with other reasons why that might be a sign that you shouldn’t be going on a date.

Anxiety disorder can make romantic relationships even more challenging, especially when the negative thoughts begin to creep in, but you don’t have to let them. If your partner understands you’re dealing with anxiety, they can work with you and point out positive things to help redirect and refocus your mindset.

Tap Into a Support System

If you don’t want to speak to a therapist, the next best thing is to build a support group of people who understand what it’s like to date when you have social anxiety.

Social Bridges brings you together with other people that understand having anxiety, and they can be the people you lean on for support and dating advice. For example, you can ask people in your support network how to bring up the topic of having anxiety.

They can give you some tips on icebreakers that will help make the conversation less intimidating when it’s time to have it. Another reason to have a strong support network is that your partner might be able to ask them for advice when dating someone with a disability.

They might even be able to create their own network within yours.

Be Prepared

Another key piece of dating advice is to come prepared for your date, even if you’ve been dating someone for a long time. Being prepared might mean thinking of some conversation starters that will help keep the data flowing.

Doing this can avoid awkward silences that might increase your anxiety during the date. Don’t spend too much time talking about yourself because that’s easy to do when you’ve become anxious.

It also helps if you set out your clothes ahead of time and complete all your daily tasks ahead of schedule. Sometimes if you have too many things on your to-do list, it can increase your anxiousness throughout the day.

Stay Present Throughout the Date

Earlier, we mentioned being positive during your date, but staying present is even more critical. When you’re struggling during important life moments, getting lost in your own thoughts is easy.

When you’re dating someone, this might come across as you’re not interested or not listening to what they have to say, which can lead to future issues. Instead, focus on leveraging your physical senses.

What are the smells you smell? What do you see at this moment? Keeping yourself present is helpful when you’re making movies with someone that could potentially become the one.

Dating With Anxiety: Tips to Make Dating a Bit Easier

Dating with anxiety isn’t easy, but we’ve given you some tips to help you navigate the world of dating better. Sometimes it’s helpful to speak to a therapist for some outside help.

And don’t forget communicating with your partner about your anxiety from the very first date will help you kick things off on the right foot. Don’t forget to find a community of people to help support you.

Speaking of support, join Special Bridge and unlock hope.