Podcast_Recording_Rush_For_15th_June_Radio

The podcast episode discusses topics such as mental health, social anxiety, cancel culture, and the pros and cons of idealizing behavior. The guest, a psychology teacher, explains that social anxiety is caused by past experiences, negative self-talk, fear of judgment, and the pressure of social media. Social anxiety can affect students' academic performance and social interactions, leading to avoidance, isolation, and physical symptoms like blushing or stuttering. To cope with social anxiety, students can challenge negative thoughts, start small, focus on the present, and seek support. The podcast also briefly mentions cancel culture, which involves publicly withdrawing support from a celebrity or influencer due to their statements or actions. The teacher warns about mob mentality, lack of nuance, and chilling effects that can result from cancel culture. Hello everyone, I am your RJ Esha and I am thrilled to be hosting this podcast today. We have a fantastic episode packed with fascinating and incredibly relevant topics. Mental health has become a topic that everybody knows of, but not many people can deal with it. And to help us unpack these trending issues such as social anxiety, cancel culture, and the pros and cons of idealizing behavior, we have a generally remarkable guest. She is not just any mentor, but the teacher who has touched the hearts of all our students here. Our psychology teacher for the senior secondary grades here at Sachitra Academy. Let's warmly welcome the ever charming Shanti Ma'am. Ma'am, thank you so much for joining us today. How are you? I am doing great Esha. How are you? I am good too. Thank you so much for asking. I am thrilled to have you here mainly because these topics hit close to home for many of us. Just the other day, a friend of mine shared how social anxiety has been affecting her ability to participate in class discussions. A lot of our listeners can relate to these experiences as well. So Ma'am, having spent a lot of time among teenagers, what do you think are the primary causes of social anxiety? Social anxiety is a common occurrence among teenagers and adults during these times. Ma'am, thank you so much for joining us today. How are you? I am great Esha. Thank you for asking. How are you? I am good too. Thank you. I am thrilled to have you here mainly because these topics hit close to home for many of us. Just the other day, a friend of mine shared how social anxiety has been affecting her ability to participate in class discussions. A lot of our listeners can relate to these experiences as well. So Ma'am, having spent a lot of time among teenagers, what do you think are the primary causes of social anxiety? Social anxiety is a common occurrence among teenagers and adults during these times. For us to get into the causes of social anxiety, we have to know what anxiety is. Anxiety is a feeling of uneasiness, dread or fear that we have in certain situations. Social anxiety is when we have these feelings during social interactions. Some of the common causes could be the past experiences that the person had, maybe during their childhood or with other people also and sometimes it can be negative self-talk wherein the person themselves feel insecure about themselves and they say that okay what I am doing is wrong right now or I am not capable of doing it or it could be fear of judgment. So especially during these days, teenagers they have other people around them and everyone especially with the advent of social media too, wherein every small thing or little thing that we do, everyone is looking at us. So that's why here also social anxiety can come up and last one again I already mentioned is social media where everything is being checked and all of us have a social persona that we have. That means the mask that we keep in the online world and offline world we are someone else. So to portray that okay I am this person in online world, so to portray that I am this kind of person in online world, sometimes what happens is we try to take our online persona into our real life also. We try to take it and when we are not able to cope up with it, then social anxiety can occur in these situations. Those definitely seem like some reasons ma'am. Considering these, how in your experience have you seen social anxiety affect students' academic performance or their social interaction? Sir, she is not responding back. Not responding, number one and number two, why she is calm now? What happened? Those definitely seem like quite some reasons. Now considering these, how in your experience have you seen social anxiety affect students' academic performance or their social interaction? These anxieties can manifest in various ways, especially as you mentioned in academic performance and social interaction. So some can be wherein this child or the person are actually avoiding group discussions or presentations or they are struggling to participate in class activities or what can happen is when they are struggling to take part in group activities, they will start developing feelings of isolation and fear of again judgment. They might have loneliness, feelings of loneliness also and sometimes these feelings we can see it in the physical format like the person continuously blushing. If they are asked to talk in front of the class, they are unable to control their blush or continuous smiling. Sometimes it can be in stuttering or stammering in social situations also. So these are some ways where we can identify that yes, this person has social anxiety. Shyness etc. come under the same category. Yes, shyness also. Those definitely seem like quite some reasons. Now considering these, how in your experience have you seen social anxiety affect students' academic performance or their social interactions etc.? So yes, anxieties can manifest in different ways and as you mentioned especially in academic and social interaction. So some ways it can manifest is the particular person, they avoid presentations or group discussions or they avoid interacting with other people also. Shyness. Yes, definitely shyness or we might see them sitting in class alone. They are not interacting with other people or sometimes these children, they struggle to participate in the class, any class activity and because they struggle to participate, what happens is they will start developing feelings of isolation and loneliness. And sometimes these symptoms we can see in the physical format also where the child is continuously blushing or they are stammering or stuttering through what they are saying or sometimes they are sitting at the corner of the class, not interacting with other people only. So these are some ways that we can see that yes, a child has social anxiety. I have also seen a lot of my friends showing signs of these. So those are quite noticeable as well. Owing to these problems, what do you suggest students do to cope with social anxiety? Okay, so some suggestions that the students can do it daily are like challenging the negative thoughts wherein the self-criticism when it comes in, so instead of self-criticizing, challenging the negative thought only when for example your thought is saying that no you can't do it, you can't talk in front of the class. Me, as a person, I challenge myself, no, I don't have to prove myself that no, I can do it. Taking up on those challenges. Yeah, taking up on those challenges. And sometimes it's better if we start small. The person starts small, instead of just going in front of the whole class and presenting, they can do it in front of their friend or start practicing in front of a mirror. And once they do it, the confidence builds up there and then they will be able to present in front of everyone or sometimes what happens is the person, because they had a very negative experience before, so whenever they are trying to do any activity, that particular memory is popping up in their memory, in their mind right. They are reminded of that experience. They recall that particular experience and they are unable to work forward. So for that they will have to focus on the present, what is happening. Yes, it can get difficult to ignore that particular memory. Here again, self-talk will come in wherein they are encouraging themselves. And the last one is seeking support. So definitely if the symptoms or the condition is in a severe manner, then seeking support is important, wherein not only you need a therapist, you can even talk to your family or your friends or your teachers also. All of us are there to help you. Those definitely seem like some reasonable tips ma'am. Thank you so much for those tips ma'am. They have given me an insight about social anxiety and I am sure it is the same for all our listeners as well. Moving on, I was scrolling through Instagram a few days back when I came across the Drake and Kendrick Lamar conflict. To learn more about it, I went to Google and I realized there is an entire Wikipedia page on it. So the cancelling culture, which is very evident to the situation, it really drew my attention. I would like you to elaborate a little on this, maybe even give us a little in-depth knowledge about how exactly it works. Okay, so cancel culture is the practice of publicly withdrawing our support, especially from a celebrity or an influencer, because of a statement or some action they did. So while it can hold people accountable, there are some important things that we have to keep in mind. One of them is mob mentality, because everyone is following the particular same thing. Like in this example of Kendrick and Drake, so let's say some people are following Drake. Okay, and they are music lovers of Drake, they have been listening to Drake for a long time and they have a system, they have friends who are also followers of Drake. And because we think that okay, if I say anything against Drake, my friends will leave me. So even if they are against it or if they don't like it, they will have to follow. They try to follow with the mob mentality there, what everyone is doing. So as a person who might not even know about Kendrick or Drake Lama's situation, so just because everyone is doing it and to look cool in front of everyone, I might also start supporting one of the celebrity here. Get influenced by others' opinions. Yes, definitely, getting influenced and it can be lack of nuance wherein I don't have much information. Okay, I don't have much information but because there is a public outrage against it and as I mentioned again, to seem like I am in with the topic or the current situation, I will follow it. And the last one is chilling effects wherein the fear of being cancelled can stifle the speech and open discourse. That means if a person is actually in the wrong, a celebrity or influencer is actually doing something wrong and when we speak against it, it will open a whole new setup or situation where other people are also trying to talk about some bad events that happened with them. So for example, wait. Can I mention Me Too moment? Yeah, you can. Okay. So the fear of, okay, the chilling effect wherein a person is not trying to speak out so that because if they speak out what happens, the public outrage will come up, anything that they are doing, the public will be against it and sometimes it can also lead to open conversations about a particular topic or taboo topic also. For example, the Me Too moment that occurred. So one person who openly talked about the experiences, it encourages the other people. So cancel culture also has its pros and cons. So pros, if there is actually something wrong going on, then it is a really advantage for other people to talk about it, they get to know information related to it. But if it is something very minimal like a celebrity using a particular product, okay, which is not acceptable or some other, their rival celebrity, they use the product and they are also using it and because of that, if the canceling is occurring, then it is disadvantageous for the particular celebrity because they are just doing their job. Promoting etc. Just small issues. Yeah, they are getting paid for that. That's it. They did not ask for that and here also what happens because they are scared of the outrage that people will have, they will try to stifle their own free speech. They might not even practice it. Whatever they think that the public wants, they will talk about it, not what they actually are feeling. Because it's also not contributing to a cause etc. Yeah, definitely. Thank you so much ma'am. Since we are on the topic, what psychological factors drive individuals to participate in cancel culture? Okay, so some of the psychological factors for people to participate in this are moral injustice because something actually is going wrong for a person to speak up about it. So, for a strong urge to get the person punished, the feeling of punishment, for justice. So, for justice, people or one person will come up and say that what you are doing as a celebrity or influencer is wrong. This is not accepted. Another thing is social conformity where because of the fear of ostracization. Can you elaborate a little on that as well? So, the fear of being ostracized as in people are. Let me just. Usually when I talk about these terms, other people they understand. What is the fear of ostracization? Social isolation. People are not talking. People are ignoring. So, the other factor for the cancel culture is social conformity where the people develop FOMO. If they are not being part of a particular thing that is happening, they are missing out on it. Even though their thoughts don't align with it, they will still take part of it. To be involved and saying that yes, I am also doing something. I am contributing. Even if they don't understand anything, just because a friend or someone told them that okay, this person is doing wrong, this person is doing right. And I just follow them. Yeah, the feeling of left out. And next one is virtue signaling. Another factor is where publicly calling someone so they can be put away from a particular project. Like for example, a movie is being made about something. So, a historical thing or a religious thing. So, if the actor or the actress, they are something, they might have in the past spoken something against it. So, the public outrage will be there. Example of this could be, we can take it during Padmaavat. Yeah, that's right. So, during Padmaavat, there was so much public outrage against the movie. They misinterpreted the history and based on that the movie was made. Yeah, they misinterpreted and they also talked about how the religion was... Not exactly how they portrayed it. Can we stop before this? Yeah. Just with the Padmaavat example? Yeah, yeah. Not too much over this. I'm done here. Huh? Did I... Yeah, yeah. I mean, how do you end that answer? Okay. I need an ending for that answer. So, you just go for... Just give a different example. How many factors? Three. Three. So, end it. That's the last factor. So, as I said, these are the three factors. Start with that and end that answer and give a reply. Okay? Sir? You're not ready. Rolling. So, as I said, these are the three factors that can influence a person psychologically to take part in the cancel culture which is happening every day in online. Right. So, ma'am, speaking of canceling culture and celebrities as well, idealizing behavior as it is known in psychology has increasingly become popular among people as well. So, what psychological reasons explain why teachers, teenagers tend to idealize celebrities? The entire question. Your reply and the question. Your reply and the question. Speaking of canceling culture and celebrities, idealizing behavior as it is known in psychology has increasingly become popular among people as well. What psychological reasons explain why teenagers tend to idealize celebrities or influencers? So, some of the reasons or causes for idealizing behavior in teenagers could be role models, Okay. So, role models as in they are looking at celebrities as aspirational figures or the mentors sometimes and they want to copy their achievements and their styles. This is one of the reasons. The other... She said thank you. Rolling. She gave you three factors for that. Just say, yeah, I think we... We understand. We have a clarity of what exactly... Now we got a clarity about, you know, how exactly, you know, why exactly they precipitate or react on social media. You know, basically, pick up words from the little life that ma'am gives you. Okay. Because she spoke about what is happening on social media and why is it happening on social media. What occurs? What are the factors? So, I think we... At least me, now I clearly understood, you know, how exactly these things work or psychology works here about the canceling culture. Because you can't... The behavior behind canceling culture. Okay. Rolling. Okay. Now, I think our listeners have a clear idea of what factors exactly drive them to participate in cancel culture. Speaking of this and along with them, celebrities as well. Idealizing behavior as it's known in psychology has increasingly become popular among people. What psychological reasons explain why teenagers tend to idealize celebrities or influencers as well? So, idealizing behavior, the reasons behind this could be role models. So, the people on social media, they are celebrities and as normal individuals, we look them as aspirational figures or mentors. And whatever they have achieved, we also strive to achieve that particular thing. Inspiration. Inspiration. Inspiration for them or we set out goals based on what they did also. Right. This is one of the reasons. The other reason could be sense of belonging. Especially at this age of teenage time, when we feel that we are isolated, no one is understanding us. There is a whole fan community for this particular celebrity. Okay. Giving them a home. Giving them a home and who shares similar thoughts and feelings related to them. Right. So, the sense of belonging here develops and it makes the idealizing behavior, strengthens the idealizing behavior here. And the next one is identity formation. This is a stage wherein the person, the individual here, they are trying to understand who they are. Self-exploration occurs. So, during this time and with the technology, we look at many celebrities, influencers online. Every day we see something and we relate to them. Because they also do something which is so common and we are like, yes, this is common. And I want to be like that too and I want to do it too. And we think that, okay, when a person is doing a particular thing or they talk about a particular concept or a topic, we feel like it resonates with what we are or what our thought process is. And then we start idealizing them. Finding your own self. Yeah. Finding my own self to others also. Because our thought process are similar. Okay. Identity formation and inspiration. Yes. How can idealizing behavior impact a teenager's self-esteem and, like you said, identity formation as well? So, there are advantages and disadvantages of idealizing behavior also. So, advantages... So, there are advantages and disadvantages of idealizing behavior. So, the disadvantages of idealizing behavior could be low self-esteem because the person is comparing themselves with another individual who has reached a particular stage of popularity. Everything, even small things that they are doing, they will compare themselves to other people. So, supermodels or a person who has super-caste, we will compare ourselves to them. Our physical features, our thought process, every little thing will nitpick on it. Or else loss of individuality also occurs wherein we are following that person in such a manner and prioritizing and imitating the behavior that I am not able to find who I am right now. I will forget. There might be some things that are covered up with what I am following because a celebrity is saying that, okay, this is the correct form of behavior or this is the correct form of body type. I will try to follow it and who I am in the whole process is a question mark. So, can this also be known as unhealthy idealizing? Yes, it is unhealthy idealizing. But there is also some advantages of healthy idealizing. So, one is wherein we look at other people's achievements and not comparing ourselves but thinking that, okay, when that person can do it, we can also do it but not copying them. We have our own journey laid out for us. We have our own choices to make. Just because your friend or someone else, a celebrity or an influencer took those, does not mean that we have to take that too. And as I mentioned before also, healthy idealizing where we get a feeling of sense of belonging and that helps especially during previous times. It helps us to feel good about being part of a community and doing something good. Here, idealization, we have to also pick out a person there who is propagating things for the benefit of people. Understand what is right and wrong. Yes, understanding what is right and wrong and not just covering up. As I mentioned about cancel culture, to not face the public outage, people might not have free speech. They might not practice free speech. But these people who are openly talking about things, following them, listening to them, listening and just having our own thoughts about it, this is healthy idealization. Okay. So, social anxiety, cancel culture, idealizing behavior, these have become quite an important part of all of our lives. This has been an excellent talk ma'am and I am so glad we have learned more about these topics from you. Thank you for lending us your time. I hope this podcast has reached all the eager listeners out there. I thank the editorial and production team for bringing this beautiful episode to us all. Goodbye for now and see you all in the next one. Namaste. That's true ma'am. Social anxiety, cancel culture and idealizing behavior are a part of everybody's life. Like you also mentioned while we were discussing about idealizing behavior, the fear of missing out, not talking about certain topics and not being able to open up about it. And like I said before as well, everybody knows about it but nobody really talks about it. So, through idealizing behavior, like you said, they are able to express themselves and they are also able to find themselves as well, identity formation. Then through cancel culture as well, fighting for justice, knowing what is right, what is wrong. And also through social anxiety like you mentioned, overcoming it, what ways we can practice, etc. And I have also seen this in many people. They have similar thoughts but because they are not able to express it, they need a platform as well. So, these things are really important to be discussed. And this has been an excellent talk and I am so glad I got to learn more about these things from you. Thank you so much ma'am. Thank you for inviting me Isha. And I just want... Thank you so much. I had an amazing time. I have learned so much. Thank you so much for coming to our studio. And I am going to sign your name here. Stop. She will not. Okay. Stop. Can I say the same line? Can I say the same line? This has been an excellent talk. Come here. I also need cues when I am talking. Unless I have that. I understand you don't have that kind of a skill. You are good at writing, Isha. You are good at writing. Sorry. It doesn't come in one word. So, ready? Ready? So nice. This has been an excellent talk. And I am so glad I got to learn more about these topics from you. Thank you so much for lending us your time, ma'am. Thank you for inviting me. And to all the listeners, I would like to say that everyone's experiences are different. And it's not just me. It's not just me. It's not just me. It's not just me. It's not just me. It's not just me. It's not just me. It's not just me. It's not just me. It's not just me. It's not just me. It's not just me. 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It's not just me. It's not just me. It's not just me. It's not just me. It's not just me. It's not just me. It's not just me. It's not just me. It's not just me. It's not just me. It's not just me. It's not just me. It's not just me. It's not just me. It's not just me. It's not just me. It's not just me. It's not just me. This has been an excellent talk and I'm so glad I got to learn more about these topics from you. Thank you for lending us your time, ma'am. Thank you for inviting me, Isha. And remember that everyone's experiences about these issues are different. And if you are struggling or facing difficulties, don't hesitate to reach out for help. Your teacher, your friend, school counselor, psychologist or career counselor, they can provide you support and guidance with these things. Definitely, ma'am. And I hope this podcast has reached all the eager listeners out there as well. I would like to thank the editorial and production teams for bringing this beautiful episode to you all. Goodbye for now and see you all in the next one. Namaste. Silence! I would like to thank the editorial and production teams for bringing this beautiful episode to you all. Goodbye for now and see you all in the next one. On a happy note, have a happy weekend. Have a great weekend. I will do it. Thank you to the editorial team and production teams for bringing this beautiful episode to you all. Goodbye for now and see you all in the next one. Have a great weekend. Namaste. Cut!