Q: I am a 25 years old male. I can not make any eye contact with others while speaking to them. This makes other people think that I am lying. This is creating a lot of problem in my professional as well as in personal life. What should I do?

A:An inability to maintain eye contact while interacting with people is more of a symptom than a cause. What is important to understand is the cause and then resolving it to deal with the problem. Very often people are unable to maintain and sustain eye contact due to lack of self-confidence. It could be that you feel unsure of yourself and your thoughts and thus are unable to express them to others. Self - doubt often makes us feel inept and inferior which adds to the problem. There are chances that the other person would think of you as lacking conviction and positive self - belief and thus may not take you or your ideas/opinions very seriously. If one doesn't take any action to break out of this cycle it only results in becoming a vicious loop for us. Thus, it is important that you get back your confidence by trusting in yourself. Learn to value your strengths and strive to improve your weaknesses. Express yourself freely to others without bothering too much about how others would view you. Remember that no one is perfect and it is okay to falter. What is more important is to learn from our mistakes and emerge as stronger individuals.