When you experience extreme fear in social settings with an evidential weakness of not wanting to talk to people, meeting new people and attending social gatherings, you may be suffering from a social anxiety disorder which is also called social phobia. This is different from shyness when you are nervous during a date, presentation, or some other situation.
You may have a social phobia when your day-in-day out engagements is characterized by significant anxiety, self-consciousness, embarrassment and a sense of powerlessness about them.
The Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) in one of its reports stated that almost 15 million American adults have a social anxiety disorder, starting from age 13.
Symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder
There are varying degrees of the manifestation of social anxiety disorder which in some cases might be extreme while in some other cases may be mild.
- blushing/timidness
- excessive sweating
- trembling or shaking
- stuttering or difficulty in speaking
- rapid heart rate
Other psychological symptoms may include:
- deep worries for days or weeks about a coming social situations
- complete avoidance of social gatherings and/or maintaining a back-end entry strategy when inevitable to attend
- worrying that other people will notice you are stressed or nervous
- having to take stimulants, drugs or alcohol to face a social situation
- missing school or work because of anxiety
Everybody feels anxious at one point or the other, however, when your anxiety paralyses your ability to: ask questions, attend job interviews, go shopping, use public restrooms, eat in public, etc then that is an extreme case of social anxiety disorder.
Causes And Risk factors
- Genetic factors, this is when a person takes after a family member with social anxiety genetic disorder exhibiting complexes, fears and timidity. If your biological parents or siblings have a social phobia, you may manifest it also.
- Negative experiences, if at one time or the other you have experienced teasing, bullying, trauma, abuse, rejection, ridicule or humiliation you may be more prone to social anxiety disorder.
- Temperament, you observe children who are shy, timid, withdrawn or restrained when facing new situations or people may be at greater risk.
- New social or work demands.Social anxiety disorder symptoms typically start from younger ages and it is betrayed when you start to meet people and perhaps make presentations.
- Special condition that draws attention,people with some disabilities, disfigurement, stuttering voice or tremors due to Parkinson's disease can lead to a feeling of low self-consciousness, complex and exhibition of social anxiety disorder.
- Hormone imbalances, such as a serotonin imbalance may contribute to this condition. Serotonin is a chemical in the brain that helps regulate mood.
When to see a doctor
It is important that you see a doctor or a mental health professional if you consistently feel embarrassed, worried, fearful and prefer to avoid normal social. Depending on the behavioural pattern you explain to your healthcare advisor, he will diagnose whether you have social phobia.
Applicable treatments
There are many types of applicable treatments for Social phobia depending on the peculiar case of the patient.
Cognitive behavioral therapy
This therapy assists you to moderate and control the number of anxieties you go through by relaxing, breathing and replacing negative thoughts with positive ones.
Exposure therapy, this therapy enhances your capacity to embrace social situations rather than avoid them.
Group therapy is putting together a peer group of people suffering from similar phobia so that you are not alone. This enables you to adapt to a new skill and grow it up to become more confident.
Avoiding caffeine, it is important to consider some of the foods you consume as they can trigger your social phobia, foods such as coffee, chocolate, soda and other stimulants can exacerbate the condition.
Adequate sleep, it is important to get at least eight hours of sleep per night because inadequate sleeping hours can trigger increased anxiety and worsen symptoms of social phobia.
Irrespective of how serious or mild your case may be, ensure you visit your healthcare provider who may prescribe medications that treat anxiety and depression if your condition doesn’t improve with therapy and lifestyle changes.
SOURCE: MSBM
IMAGE SOURCE: Freepik
Contributions from:
https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety/social-phobia
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/social-anxiety-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20353561
