I hide from it and try to distract myself

Doesn't work too well...

Pretend that you are superior to everyone.

Although I've found this strategy often backfires and makes me think I'm worse than everyone for having to use such a selfish strategy in the first place....

Lately I've been listening to ambient & classical music & coloring in coloring books. Coloring is rather relaxing

Recently discovered... Opera

Pick a point in the area around you and let that be your camera angle. Then watch yourself from that point. Sometimes I need to step outside of myself to become less self aware and observe how I am in the atmosphere around me.

I also laugh at myself when I do something that gives me negative attention. I went to the dollar store to get a bottle of water and I had my headphones on. Then for some reason when a person coming out of the first door opened the door I slipped in between them to go first. I had my headphones on too so I yelled "Sorry" a lot more intensely than I needed to. The second door had someone coming through too so I opened the door for them but then decided to go through first again? I repeated my previous "Sorry" but I also started laughing at myself to deal with the awkward anxiety feeling.

I generaly cycle my bike into the country where nobody else is and just find a realy nice spot and listen to some music or take some sound recordings or something. If its realy bad then i'll just keep cycling and cycling till im too exhaused to feel anxious.

If I HAVE to be around other people then I generaly focus on my breathing and remember to just slow down everything.

That said, self depricating humor can sometimes get me out of some bad social situations and avoid the worry of someone judging me, because I kind of forced it myself, if that makes any sence.

i just face the matter causing me the anxiety head on.

if its gone, then it wont be making me anxious anymore right. i mean running away from it will just... irritate me for an even more prolonged length of time. i guess the issue then sometimes becomes me being a bit... well too impatient and doing hasty decisions. darn

Heavy techno. Hell yeaaaah.

Between my boyfriend and I, we get like 75 1mg Ativan pills a month. You would think that would be enough, but we go through them pretty fast.

Lately when I need to relax I listen to old recordings of Art Bell Coast to Coast. Even though stories about aliens and ghosts are freaky, the guy just has the most soothing voice.

It does make sense. You control other's judgements by pre-empting their likely assumptions about you. It cushions you from negative feelings because you've already owned your own flaws and made light of them. It shows others that you are self aware and don't take yourself seriously. They have no ammunition if you've already disarmed your own personality.

On the other hand, making a joke of yourself too often might make others realise that you are actually quite sensitive about the things that you are joking about. That, if they wanted, they could turn the joke back on you.

My way of dealing with anxiety is simply to grit my teeth and intimate to myself that: I feel no shame. I act as though nobody is watching me. I act as though I'm speaking to a close friend, even to a stranger, keeping only those things hidden that I don't wish to reveal. At least, that's how I aim to behave. Sometimes I can't force myself to do it and that's when I wallow and stress over my insecurities.

Wow, you expressed that realy nicely.
You have a good point about it actualy showing up my insecurities. I guess it works only on people that you dont see very oftain. Im lucky in that my friends give me quite an easy time when it comes to making fun of each other.

Total indifference. If you don't care then it doesn't matter. An unfortunate byproduct of this is that you destroy any sort of purpose or meaning in your life. Swings and roundabouts.

Same.