Dating With Anxiety

Wednesday, August 08th, 2018


Figures from Anxiety UK say that ‘more than 1 in 10 people are likely to have a ‘disabling anxiety disorder’ at some stage in their life’. As well as affecting your life as a whole, having an anxiety disorder can affect how your search for a romantic partner.

Speak to your GP

The statistics from Anxiety UK show that only 25 percent of people with an anxiety disorder are receiving treatment for it. If you speak to your GP about how you are feeling, they may be able to help you with methods of controlling your feelings of anxiety.

Don’t self-medicate

Medication that is provided by a medical practitioner can be very helpful when you are suffering from anxiety, but self-medicating using alcohol, or drugs can affect you negatively in the long term.

Advice from Drink Aware says: ‘While a glass of wine after a hard day might help you relax, in the long run it can contribute to feelings of depression and anxiety and make stress harder to deal with. This is because regular, heavy drinking interferes with neurotransmitters in our brains that are needed for good mental health.’

Do go through the dating scenario with a friend

When it comes to meeting up with someone for the first time, there are a lot of unknowns that can make you feel very uncomfortable. You won’t be able to practice meeting with your date, but you can practice other elements of your date with a close friend.

In advance of your date: travel with a friend to where you are planning to meet up (using the same method as you plan to use on the date itself), explore the venue and practice ‘getting to know you conversation’.

You can also brief you friend about your date so that you are safe in the knowledge that they know where you are and when.

Positive first date analysis

After the date, it is natural to analyse what has happened, but try not to search for the negatives. Try to think back over the positive aspects of your date, like if they complimented you, rather than thinking negatively about how you  said something silly.

Also, don’t send your date a message apologising for anything that you did. Something that you thought was a big deal probably didn’t even register with them and a message will only draw attention to it.