My fellow nerdy ranters what's the best way to take care of social anxiety completely, am contemplating alcohol

Gradual and deliberate practice acting talkative and friendly, both with people you know and with strangers. You can also read up on emotional intelligence. I find that being more friendly makes people react more positively toward me, which greatly reduces both my social anxiety and overt self-awareness.

This is coming from someone who has social anxiety and can't stay in a class room for more than 10 minutes without getting nervous and escaping. These worked for me.

To keep yourself distracted:

When you are in a public place and feel nervous, try counting backwards starting from 10,000.

If that's too easy, than try saying your A, B, C's backwards.

Find a spot like the floor, or a wall and think about the details and the shapes. Notice the stains and the distinct features on it.

To get yourself to talk to others:

Don't give them eye contact. It's one of the scariests things ever. Instead, stare behind them.

Think of a funny memory. You'll end up smiling more than freaking out.

Find a stick and start tearing pieces off or use slime or play doe and squish them with your hand. (It seems strange but sometimes it helps relax you.")

Not the most intuitive suggestion, but try social dancing, specifically lessons. Assuming you're like most STEM -oriented people I've met, you'll find you have a knack for it. Swing, salsa, tango, and ballroom are my suggestions (in that order).

Here's why I think this is good: you're usually given a pattern of foot and arm movements to learn for the lesson. STEM people, in my experience, seem to have an easier time grasping these patterns than other people, so it won't occupy all of your attention. Everyone at the lesson will be learning the same movements, so there's already common ground for conversation. You'll be dancing one-on-one, and I've found one-on-one interactions easier than groups. You'll also be rotating between partners, meaning you get to meet new people every couple of minutes.

Plenty of practice with introductions, re-meeting people, and common goals/awkwardness make for an excellent way to practice social interactions.

A friend of mine who is a developer has huge anxiety problem. He eats ice-cream before he goes to meet his girlfriend. According to him, if he doesn't eat ice cream he is not able to talk or make an conversation with his girlfriend. I think the girlfriend knows about this.

@error503 sugar level helps maintaining stress.

great book

https://amazon.de/How-Stop-Worrying...

My advice, as I order everyone going to shrink, is going to shrink ;-)
Ask for escitalopramum. And ask him for some tips on anxiety.
Xanax or weed might be helpful too.
Avoid alcohol, it's a trap.

The ice cream guy tho

@error503 Haha. Raj Koothrapalli - Ice Cream version

Joining the anti social social club?