Other people think that it is just extreme shyness, and will go away on its own. Is social anxiety something that people should treat as an illness or just extreme shyness? What is Social anxiety? Social anxiety disorder, or social phobia, is an anxiety disorder that makes a person afraid of social interactions and large groups of people. A person with social anxiety will be afraid of public speaking and being in large or even small groups.
Adolescence is a stage that's often overlooked and ignored for reasons unknown. A problem would be figuring out who exactly suffers from SAD.There aren't enough experiments conducted on this disorder for this specific age group. There are limitations.It would serve as bias to conduct an experiment for this disorder without singling out specific people. Creating avenues to overcome SAD will not able to be accomplished without separating them from their peers which trigger a state of anxiety; it wouldn't be conducive to isolate them. It’s unfair to those that suffer from social anxiety.
Afraid of a place where it may be difficult to escape from? This is likely just a normal emotion of fear but, it may be Agoraphobia. “Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder that manifests as a fear of situations where escape could be difficult, or in which help would not be available if something bad were to happen.” Many people misunderstood the meaning of agoraphobia of a fear of open spaces. Agoraphobia is much more complex than that. About 1.8 million Americans over the age of 18 have agoraphobia without a history of panic 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.
Social Anxiety and Depression Today, many Americans today suffer from either social anxiety disorder (SAD) and/or depression. In general, people who suffer with either one of these disorders actually have both, as social anxiety and depression are closely linked together. Allegedly, if someone has social anxiety disorder or social phobia, and does not receive treatment, they have the tendency to develop depression. There is a major factor between the two disorders. A person suffering with SAD is unlikely to attending social situations out of fear that they will not be liked by others.
Those with the disorder often experience anxiety and avoidance of a variety of social situations like: parties, public speaking, and dating. Most individuals who are socially anxious possess a fear of being judged negatively and/or acting in ways that would be seen as humiliating or embarrassing. The most common symptoms of social anxiety are palpitations, dizziness, numbness, abdominal distress, dry mouth, sweating, and blushing. Individuals with social anxiety are usually worried that these symptoms will be obvious to others and lead these people to think that they are extremely anxious to the exclusion of more benign possibilities. This preference for unfavorable explanations represents a general pattern of negative, catastrophic thinking.
According to the DSM 5, social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a chronic and persistent disorder characterized by an intense fear of social situations. Those with SAD often fear that other will judge them for negative traits or evaluate them harshly, preventing them from engaging in social behaviors. This fear may seem disproportionate to the situation faced and sociocultural context involved, but is salient enough to be debilitating and effect daily functioning. ). Many of the afflicted inhibit their behavior to avoid such fearful situations, which will impact their functioning in school, relationships, and later in life, the workplace.
They may be unable to complete school, have trouble interviewing and getting a job, and may be incapable of friendships or romantic relationships, making them feel alone or even ashamed. Although not as common, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is another form of anxiety that can wreak havoc on someone’s life. OCD causes one to suffer from unwanted thoughts that they cannot seem to let go of (obsessions), causing them to repeatedly perform ritualistic behaviors or routines in an effort to ease their anxiety. Agoraphobia is considered one of the more serious anxiety disorders. A common misconception is that agoraphobia is a fear of public places.
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.
Social phobias easily lead individuals to shunning situations where they feel they might be the focus of other people in the society, as they often feel unaccomplished and therefore assume that they will be the subject of the said populations (American Psychiatric Association, 2015). The fear of negative judgment imposed by other people in the society points at a situation where one ensures that they stay devoid of situations that involve socializing with other people in the society. This makes it almost impossible for individuals with these phobias to take up roles that require public participation (Randi and Irena, 2015). It ascribes to what one can view as the phobia of other people 's reaction to an individual. Fear of rejection by others is a good example of a social phobia.