Social Phobia (Social Anxiety Disorder)
Social Phobia, or Social Anxiety Disorder, is an anxiety disorder characterized by overwhelming anxiety and excessive self-consciousness in everyday social situations.
People with Social Phobia have "automatic thoughts" that everyone is watching, staring, and judging them. People with Social Phobia understand that people are not really trying to embarrass or humiliate them, and realize that their thoughts and feelings about being judged are exaggerated and irrational. Yet, despite this rational knowledge, people with Social Phobia still continue to feel uncomfortably anxious.
Social Phobia can be limited to only one type of situation, such as fear of speaking in formal or informal situations, or eating or drinking in front of others. Some people with Social Phobia, for example, cannot write in public because of their hand shaking as they feel people are watching. Social Phobia in its most severe form, may be so broad that a person experiences symptoms almost anytime they are around other people. In severe cases of Social Phobia, the socially anxious person CANNOT relax, "take it easy", and enjoy themselves in public. In fact, people with Social Phobia can never fully relax when other people are around. To people with Social Phobia, it always feels like others are evaluating them, being critical of them, or "judging" them in some way. However, the person with Social Phobia, despite knowing that people do NOT actually focus on them, still feel uncomfortably self-consciousness while they are in the presence of other people.
Social Phobia is sometimes impossible to let go, relax, and focus on anything else except the irrational anxiety and fear. Even when people with Social Phobia are around familiar people, a person with Social Phobia may feel overwhelmed and have the feeling that others are noticing their every movement and critiquing their every thought.
Women and men are equally likely to develop the Social Phobia, which usually begins in childhood or early adolescence, and approximately 7% of the population suffers from some form of Social Phobia.
Social phobia sometimes runs in families and there is some evidence that genetic factors are involved. Also, Social Phobia is often accompanied by other anxiety disorders, depression, or substance abuse (if people try to self-medicate their anxiety).
According to a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded study that was published in the January 2013 issue of JAMA Psychiatry, brain imaging can provide neuromarkers to predict whether traditional options such as cognitive behavioral therapy will work in an individual with social anxiety disorder. A person suffering from social anxiety disorder with changes in two brain regions involved in early processing of visual cues (such as faces), predicted positive outcome with cognitive behavioral therapy.
If you think you have social phobia and it is causing difficulty in your life, then see a Psychiatrist, Psychologist, or Therapist.
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