Social anxiety is a challenge faced not just by everyday people but also by many well-known public figures. Popular American singer Nick Jonas had a bout with social anxiety at the Golden Globes 2026 recently,
as he briefly stepped away from the award ceremony. Jonas admitted he had felt overwhelmed, with the anxiety of being at the event hitting him “like a gut punch.”
The admission took place after a fan account shared a video of Jonas standing outside the Golden Globes premises and taking a sip of water to calm his nerves. As this account holder claimed, “social anxiety got the best of him”, Jonas spotted the video himself and replied, “Yeah…it hit me like a gut punch.”
What Is Social Anxiety?
Nick Jonas’s honest confession helps break the stigma surrounding anxiety and mental health challenges. Living with type 1 diabetes, the singer has openly shared his experiences managing a chronic condition. His candid admission about facing anxiety at the Golden Globes is a powerful reminder that anxiety can affect even the most successful and confident-looking individuals.
According to Dr Sanil Sinhasan, Consultant Psychiatrist at Mind Care Clinic and SRV Hospital, Mumbai, social anxiety is a mental disorder where an individual feels “anxious and fearful of being judged and embarrassed in the public eye.” “Social anxiety disorder is an intense fear of being judged, rejected, or embarrassed in social or performance situations,” Sinhasan told Health Shots.
What Are The Symptoms
When dealing with social anxiety, an individual may feel overly concerned about how others perceive them, their appearance, way of talking and more. Dr Sinhasan says social anxiety needs to be addressed early before it aggravates into a phase where one experiences breathing difficulties, muscle tension, dizziness and a sense of suffocation. These symptoms tend to amplify our anxiety.
Dr Sinhasan divides social anxiety disorder symptoms into physical (sweating, chest discomfort, cold chills, headaches & co), behavioural (isolating and avoiding social interactions) and mental (being in a constant state of negativity and self-doubt) signs.
How To Overcome Social Anxiety
- Practice Deep Breathing: Notice that when your body is in a relaxed state, your breathing is slow and free, and the brain is not feeling anxious at all. Practice carrying this state of mind with you via deep breathing exercises that calm your nerves instantly.
- Overcome Negativity: Stop preempting scenarios and giving a negative perspective to them in your head. It could be part of your brain’s response to past trauma, but practice shifting your brain away from the negative loop by giving the same scenarios a positive spin.
- Face The Fear: You see, the only way to pass a challenging scenario is to embrace it head-on. When we avoid pre-conceived fears and unwanted situations, it may initially give us emotional and mental protection, but the long-term implications of this can be damaging. Your anxiety may resurface even more intensely in certain scenarios. For social anxiety, start being around people and stop fearing being judged. You can’t expect others to accept you before you accept yourself.
- Open Up: Don’t isolate yourself in a state of mental disorder. Open up to anyone you trust and share how you’re feeling. It would help ensure your current state doesn’t aggravate.
- Mindfulness Exercise: Identify what triggers your anxiety and incorporate mindfulness exercises like yoga, meditation and breathing tricks in your daily lifestyle.
