Social Anxiety Disorder
Millions of people are affected by what is known as social phobia or social anxiety disorder.
The fear and anxiety that is felt by someone with social anxiety is way beyond the normal apprehension that you might experience before speaking or performing in front of other people or going to a social occasion with strangers. The feelings of dread that are felt by the social phobic can be debilitating and may even cause them to avoid the event in question altogether.
You may well be able to observe your situation logically and realise that your worries are out of proportion to the event in question. Unfortunately your thoughts will constantly drift back to the expectation that you will say or do something that will be judged to be stupid or weak. This leaves you, as a sufferer, with a huge dent in your life as normal everyday social interactions can seem too daunting to take on.
A social phobia may manifest itself upon your professional life if you have to give presentations or speeches. Teachers or lawyers may find their professional life severely affected by social anxiety disorder.
Other common fears have also been well documented such as, fear of blushing, fear of vomiting when eating in front of others, phobia about using public restrooms, fear of collapsing or fainting in public.
Often however, the specific symptoms or situations associated with social anxiety disorder are not so easily pinpointed. You may have a general fear of people or strangers, or you may have a fear of being in certain types of places such as, busy supermarkets or public streets.
Panic Attacks
Sufferers may also have experience of panic attacks although the circumstances can differ from those who suffer from agoraphobia. A panic attack associated with social anxiety is more likely to be triggered by the anticipation of a certain event or situation, whilst the agoraphobic is more inclined to panic at the though of going outside or even being confined. The absence of panic attack does not necessarily indicate that the individual is not suffering from social anxiety. The compulsion to use avoidance tactics is the most likely indication that someone is suffering from social anxiety.
Most people will have experienced some degree of social anxiety in their life; as noted elsewhere, it is natural to feel nervous before certain situations. It becomes a serious problem, however, when your efforts to avoid particular situations become a pre-occupation or obsession.
Therapy to treat social anxiety disorder may involve desensitization to the situations that trigger the phobia. This type of gradual exposure can allow the sufferer to gain perspective on their thoughts and feelings in a more controlled way. Drug treatments are often thought of as a quick fix to enable the person to carry out their duties in the short term but effective recovery will often rely upon a more concerted long term strategy.
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