Social Anxiety - What Are The Symptoms, Causes And Treatment Methods Used
Social anxiety or social phobia is a type of disorder that is characterized by excessive worrying, fear and emotional discomfort regarding social situations. It is directly related to the fear of being with people.
In other words, this is a condition that is based on fear of receiving negative criticism from others, leading to feeling of inadequacy, embarrassment, humiliation and depression. These feelings are often so intense that people who are suffering from social anxiety often go through lengths to avoid situations where they will have to interact with other people or situations that could make them uncomfortable. Its nickname, ‘crippling shyness’, aptly describes how debilitating this condition to those who experience it.
Difference Between Specific Social Anxiety And Generalized Social Anxiety
As its name suggests, specific social anxiety is the fear of one or two specific social situations. This could be the fear of speaking in public, fear of doing something that everyone can see, or fear of speaking to a figure of importance or authority. Meanwhile, generalized social anxiety is the fear of most, if not all social situations.
What do people with social anxiety disorder fear and try to avoid.
People suffering from with either condition usually experience significant emotional distress when faced with two types of situations: performance situations (or situations that force them to perform in front of others or allow other people to observe them) and social interaction situations (or situations that force them to interact with people. Most people with social anxiety try to avoid both types of situations.
Examples of performance situations that people suffering from this condition include being introduced to people, especially those who are perceived to have authority or importance, being the center of attention, performing in public, doing something that many people can see, being at public places such as shopping malls and public transportation vehicles, and interpersonal relationships.
Examples of social interaction situations include talking to someone over the phone, going on a date, talking to strangers, initiating and maintaining conversation, expressing personal opinions, being in an intimate situation, talking to strangers and being assertive.
Symptoms
When under such situations, a person dealing with social anxiety would suffer from a host of physiological and psychological symptoms such overwhelming fear, racing heart, drying of the mouth, muscle freezing, difficulty swallowing, extreme self-consciousness and heart palpitations.
Causes
There are two causes to Social anxiety- biological factors and psychological factors. Biological factors include abnormal brain activity in response to normal events and situations, abnormal levels of specific neurotransmitters in the brain, and genetic make-up of the person. On the other hand, psychological factors include previous experience of trauma regarding social situations, having better ability to pay attention to socially threatening people and events, having negative beliefs about social situations, and greater tendency to be anxious.
Social anxiety is, to say the least, a very debilitating condition. It limits one’s activities, experiences and makes every day a somewhat terrifying experience to the person suffering from it. Find help now.
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