Question:

I have been in a gap year for the past year and I have gained an increase in being an introvert, having anxiety, having trouble relaxing in general, and am not great at social interactions. i also loose motivation easy. what should i do

Answer:

I’m so glad you are reaching out about this. What you are describing will sound familiar for many, especially following social isolation during the pandemic. Our ability to connect with others is like a muscle that weakens with a lack of use. If your gap year did not include a lot of social interaction, especially in new and different situations, starting university will be like lifting weights you have not trained for. The good news is that, like your body, you can first create more tolerance for social interactions and then become confident and more skilled with practice. The trick is finding doable steps, like starting with 5 lb weights if you really want to lift 10 lb weights. Okay, that might be pushing the muscle metaphor too far.

So here are some options. You mentioned having anxiety and trouble relaxing in general and that can have multiple causes that are worth exploring in counselling. You are welcome to book an appointment and discuss this in more detail.

If you are wanting to take some small steps you could attend some of our new series of workshops this Fall: Live Well, Learn Well. You can check out your options in the calendar on our website. These are smaller groups and we create a safe environment to chat about wellness related topics, many of them focused on the challenges you described. Having difficulties socially can be discouraging and impact motivation generally. It seems fitting, then, to note that our first session on September 18 at noon is called “Goal Setting That Works.” I hope you’ll come. You now have a personal invitation 🙂