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short note on social anxiety
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A lot of individuals who have social phobia are labeled as shy rather than having a disorder. This is mostly because a lot of people don’t know or don’t understand what social phobia is. To those people it’s something that you can either “grow out of” or “get over,” but it’s not that simple. There is a lot more to social phobia than most people think and to the individual who has social phobia it can be a very detrimental disorder.
What is Social Phobia?
Social phobia is “a disorder characterized by excessive fear of being exposed to the scrutiny of other people that leads to avoidance of social situations in which the person is called on to perform” (Carlson, 2009, p. 587). In simpler terms social phobia is an avoidance or fear of situations in which the person might humiliate or embarrass themselves in front of others and appear incompetent or foolish. If the situation cannot be avoided the person becomes extremely anxious and the anxiety symptoms impair the normal functioning of the person.
For someone to be diagnosed with social phobia they must meet the criteria within the DSM-IV-TR. According to the DSM-IV-TR there are many different features of social phobia. They are (1) “marked and persistent fear of one or more social performance situations in which the person is exposed to unfamiliar people or to possible scrutiny by others, with the fear that one will be embarrassed or humiliated,” (2) “exposure to the feared social situation almost invariably provokes anxiety, sometimes as a panic attack,” (3) “recognition that the fear is excessive or unreasonable,” (4) “the feared social or performance situation is avoided or are endured with intense anxiety or distress,” and (5) “the avoidance, anxious, anticipation, or di...
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Weeks, J. W., Lee, C. Y., Reilly, A. R., Howell, A. N., France, C., Kowalsky, J. M., & Bush, A. (2012). “The Sound of Fear”: Assessing vocal fundamental frequency as a physiological indicator of social anxiety disorder. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 26(8), 811-822. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.pitt.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/S088761851200093X
Wood, S. E., Wood, E. G., & Boyd, D. (2010). The World of Psychology (7th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson.
Xu, Y., Schneier, F., Jeimberg, R. G., Princisvalle, K., Liebowitz, M. R., Wang, S., & Blanco, C. (2012). Gender differences in social anxiety disorder: Results from the national epidemiologic sample on alcohol and related conditions. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 26(1), 12-19. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.pitt.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/S0887618511001411
The World of Psychology. (2002). A Pearson Education Company. Boston, MA: Samuel Wood & Ellen Green Wood p. 593
One of the most common anxiety disorder is social phobia, which can sometimes be interchangeable with Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). Marc de Rosnay, and others, states that Social Anxiety Disorder is characterized by a clearly noticeable fear and avoidance of most social situations where the individual may be put under scrutiny by others, and by fear in such situations, the individual will behave in an embarrassing manner (de Rosnay). One of the most notable feature of social phobia is that it has an early onset, as early as 7-9 months in most cases. The characteristics of having social phobia, or social anxiety disorder, is that the individuals are shy when meeting new people, quiet in a large group, blush easily, and often avoids making eye contact. There are a lot of concerns/problems with having social anxiety disorder. As a group, individuals with anxiety disorders had the largest burden of role disability compared to other common mental health conditions, exceeding the burden for mood disorders and in some cases, substance abuse (Grigorenko).
Davis, S. F., & Palladino, J. J. (2003). Psychology. (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Gall, S. B., Beins, B., & Feldman, A. (2001). The gale encyclopedia of psychology. (2nd ed.). Detroit, MI: Gale Group.
Those who have social phobia have a strong fear of being embarrassed, or being judged by others. Most people that have social anxiety know that they shouldn’t be as afraid as they are but, they cannot control their fear. When they are in or around public they become very self-conscious, and tend to
Having anxiety is common and a part of everyday life however; there is a huge difference between a fear and a social phobia or anxiety disorder. The difference and important distinction psychoanalysts make between a fear and a phobia is “a true phobia must be inconsistent with the conscious learning experience of the individual” (Karon 1). Patients with true phobias “do not respond to cognitive therapy but do respond well to psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic therapy” (Karon 2). Social phobia is a serious anxiety disorder that should not be taken lightly or mistaken as a fear you will simply grow out of the older you get. Social phobia has the power to destroy lives and can prevent people from living and enjoying their life to the fullest. Social phobia is a disabling condition that often starts between the ages of early childhood and late adolescence. The origins of social phobia can be linked to “traumatic social experiences and social isolation” (Hudson118-120). Social phobia is treatable however; research and statics show that not many seek help.
Roth, D. A., & Heimberg, R. G. (2001). Cognitive-behavioral models of social anxiety disorder. Psychiatric Clinics Of North America, 24(4), 753-771. doi:10.1016/S0193-953X(05)70261-6
According to DSM V, Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), is defined as a persistent fear of one or more social or performance situations in which the person is exposed to unfamiliar people or to possible scrutiny by others. The individual fears that he or she will act in a way (or show anxiety symptoms) that will be embarrassing and humiliating (DSM V, 2014).
Social Anxiety Disorder was first recognized by the American Psychiatric Association as a disorder in 1980 (1). It is characterized by such physical symptoms as increased heartbeat, blushing, dry mouth, trembling and shaking, difficulty swallowing, and twitching in the muscles (2). Many people with social anxiety disorder also have depression. A study in France found that 70 percent of patients who developed social anxiety disorder before the age of 15 also suffered from major depression (3). Diagnostic criteria, according to the current definition of social anxiety disorder given by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, 4th ed. (DSM-IV), requires a persistent fear of at least one social situation which involves exposure to unfamiliar people or scrutiny by others. The patient must fear that he or she will act in this situation in a way that will cause embarrassment, and avoid the situation or experience extreme anxiety or a panic attack if faced with the situation. The patient must also realize that the fear is unreasonable. The avoidance or anxiety must interfere to a large extent with the normal routine, functioning, social activities, or relationships with the person (1).
Gall, S. B., Beins, B., & Feldman, A. (2001). The gale encyclopedia of psychology. (2nd ed., pp. 271-273). Detroit, MI: Gale Group.
There are many different perceptions about people with social anxiety. People who do have it are often seen by others as just being shy, aloof, constrained, unfriendly, uneasy, quiet, indifferent, or diffident. The people who are afflicted with social anxiety may be clouded by these perceptions as well, so they may fail to seek treatment. Because the problem is generally unheard of, they may think that they are the only ones who suffer from it. People who do seek treatment are misdiagnosed 90% of the time, often labeled as "personality disorder", "manic depressive", or "schizophrenic", among other things. This is because social anxiety is not well understood by the general public, or medical or health care professionals. They are not even sure of the real cause of it or what it stems from.
Main Point 1: There are three main categories of phobias. The first category is Specific Phobias which are known as simple phobias. Specific phobias or simple phobias are usually fears about specific situations, living creatures, places, activities, or things. Examples of simple phobias is dentophobia (dentists), aerophobia (flying), claustrophobia (small spaces), and acrophobia (heights). The other two categories are Social Phobia and Agoraphobia. These two are known as complex phobias. The article “What is a Phobia?”, describes them as complex phobias because “they are linked to deep-rooted fear or anxiety about certain situations, incidents or circumstances, which make them more disabling than simple phobias.” Social phobia is also referred to as social anxiety disorder. Social phobia may be defined in which a person has an excessive and unreasonable fear of social situations. (Webmd.com) A person with social phobia finds being in social situations very difficult to handle with because of the lack of social skills or experiences that person may have. Going out to social events such as parties or functions may cause anxiety to a person with social phobia. There is that fear a person has of being embarrassed in public. People with this phobia may be afraid of a specific situation such as public speaking. Medicinenet.com defines “agoraphobia” as “a fear of being outside or otherwise being in a situation from which one either cannot escape or from which escaping would be difficult or humiliating.” The results of agoraphobia are anxiety and panic attacks. People with agoraphobia sometimes confine themselves inside their own home when symptoms are
Social anxiety is a common personality disorder, it is caused by excessive and unreasonable fear of social situations. This type of anxiety is triggered by the fear of being judged by others, based off of who they are or how they behave. People who suffer from social anxiety tend to experience distorted thinking, leading to fake accusations about the outcome
Boyd, D., Wood, E.G., Wood, S.E. (2014, 2011, 2008). Mastering the world of psychology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. 128-129, 329-330, 335-340. Print.
National Institute of Mental Health. (2009). Studying anxiety disorders. NIH Medline plus, 5, 13-15. Retrieved from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/anxiety-disorders/complete-index.shtml