Does meditation either help you or motivate you to act more “real” and less “fake” in social situations?

I’m working on being more real and genuine in daily life, mainly because I struggled with severe depression and social anxiety for so long, which caused me to recede deep into a protective shell, which in turn worsened my depression.

Now, I’m in a much better state (thanks in part to intensive therapy and in part to my ongoing spiritual/meditative practice). I really suffered through some very dark, ugly, dysfunctional years, unfortunately, but I endured and have now achieved a better place.

However, I still struggle with being “real” in daily life — and by “real” I mean authentic, genuine, unscripted. I still find myself overly editing myself, hiding parts of myself, and oftentimes not speaking my mind or simply not being more spontaneous.

The fears that kept me locked in my self-imposed hell for so long are still here, although greatly reduced. I still rehearse things in my mind before speaking, for example; I still care way too much about potential judgments from others; and I still care too much about impressing people.

This overwhelming concern about being liked and accepted and not being rejected by others is still very much in play, and I don’t want that, because it feels like bondage —I feel trapped and enslaved because of it.

Now, obviously, we can’t all be so real to the point where we disregard polite social courtesies or pleasantries, so I do realize that a certain degree of editing and superficiality is necessary for social purposes — but that’s just surface level stuff that we use as social lubrication.

But beyond these pleasantries and the social niceties, how do I learn to be and feel more at ease, comfortable, and “real” as a human being? I sincerely crave that level of personal freedom!