Anxiety Social Anxiety Disorder Symptoms and Diagnosis Do You Want to Be Invisible and Hide From People? By Arlin Cuncic, MA Arlin Cuncic, MA Arlin Cuncic, MA, is the author of The Anxiety Workbook and founder of the website About Social Anxiety. She has a Master's degree in clinical psychology. Learn about our editorial process Updated on November 22, 2023 Medically reviewed Verywell Mind articles are reviewed by board-certified physicians and mental healthcare professionals. Medical Reviewers confirm the content is thorough and accurate, reflecting the latest evidence-based research. Content is reviewed before publication and upon substantial updates. Learn more. by Amy Morin, LCSW Medically reviewed by Amy Morin, LCSW Amy Morin, LCSW, is a psychotherapist and international bestselling author. Her books, including "13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do," have been translated into more than 40 languages. Her TEDx talk, "The Secret of Becoming Mentally Strong," is one of the most viewed talks of all time. Learn about our Medical Review Board Print JGI / Jamie Grill / Getty Images Trending Videos Close this video player Some people with social anxiety disorder (SAD) have the thought: "I wish I could be invisible." Do you ever feel that way? Many people with SAD try to make themselves invisible to others. They don't talk so they won't draw attention to themselves. They look down so they won't make eye contact. They avoid situations so that they won't have to face people. Although your desire to be invisible may be strong, would that really solve anything? What Would You Lose by Being Invisible? All of your needs, wants, opinions, and desires would go ignored. Nobody would know that you were there. People would lose out on getting to know you. You would not have the opportunity to make friendships and have relationships. Your opinions would never be heard. If you have SAD, perhaps some of these things are already true. What is the opposite of being invisible? Being seen? Heard? Could you handle that? Probably not right away, if you have been invisible for a long time. But gradually and slowly, you can stop being invisible and face your fears. Get Help Now We've tried, tested, and written unbiased reviews of the best online therapy programs including Talkspace, BetterHelp, and ReGain. Find out which option is the best for you. Do You Have Social Anxiety Disorder? Research on Being Invisible In one interesting study, researchers used virtual reality to test out the effect of perceiving your own body to be invisible. What they found was interesting—socially anxious responses to standing in front of an audience were reduced when the participant perceived their own body to be invisible. The authors of the study suggested that starting out virtual reality therapy with an invisible body may allow those with social anxiety disorder to gradually overcome their fears. Beyond this application to treatment, what might this study tell us? Healthy Ways to Cope With Fear Imagine for a moment that you were standing in front of an audience but you were invisible. Would your heart still race? Would you feel shaky and panicky? Is your fear dependent on the audience seeing you, or does it exist simply because of you seeing the audience? Based on the findings from this study, we can conclude that it is not just the presence of the audience, but the thought that they are looking at you that causes distress. Indeed, we know that those with SAD tend to experience the "spotlight effect," wherein you think all eyes are on you, even when they are not. What Is the Spotlight Effect? More Invisible Than You Think Though you may not be able to rig up a virtual reality situation in your own life to practice being invisible, you could instead do some behavioral experiments to test out exactly how much other people notice what you are doing. In other words, act silly on purpose to see what reaction you get. If you want to get even more in-depth, exposure therapy is a technique used by therapists as part of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). In a nutshell, it involves just that—facing your fears gradually and learning that you can be in the situations that cause you anxiety. Eventually, your anxiety will dissipate if you stay long enough. Although exposure therapy is usually practiced with a therapist, it can also be done on your own as a self-help exercise. We Tried 100+ Therapy Services and Apps—And We Recommend These 8 for Online CBT How to Practice Exposure Therapy 2 Sources Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Guterstam A, Abdulkarim Z, Ehrsson HH. Illusory ownership of an invisible body reduces autonomic and subjective social anxiety responses. Sci Rep. 2015;5:9831. doi:10.1038/srep09831 Kaczkurkin AN, Foa EB. Cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders: An update on the empirical evidence. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2015;17(3):337–346. By Arlin Cuncic, MA Arlin Cuncic, MA, is the author of The Anxiety Workbook and founder of the website About Social Anxiety. She has a Master's degree in clinical psychology. See Our Editorial Process Meet Our Review Board Share Feedback Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! 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