What Is Social Anxiety Disorder : Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment

 

                       Social Anxiety Disorder

 

It is very much common to feel nervous or uncomfortable before exam or interview or meeting some new people. And most of the people feel like this before facing this kind of situation

Many people in the world feel very much uncomfortable when they try to interact with other persons or talking with people or performing in front of many people.

Many celebrities around the world have talked about this kind of anxiety before performing. It is one kind of social fears which is very unpleasant but people somehow manage this.

Actually it is called social anxiety disorder which is also known as social phobia. So I will talk about social anxiety disorder. From this post you will get to know the main basic information of this disorder.

The topics we will cover today are given below.

• What is social anxiety disorder
• Causes
• Symptoms
• Diagnosis and
• Treatment of social anxiety disorder

Let’s move forward to our topics.

 

What Is Social Anxiety Disorder

Social anxiety disorder which is also called as social phobia is actually a kind of anxiety disorder. In this disorder people feel persistent and severe and irrational anxiety about social situations in which they have to be present.

And these fears can become so intense that people try to avoid getting into these situations. These fear cause self-consciousness and embarrassment because they think they will be judged negatively by other people.

Social anxiety disorder creates distress in normal life. It mainly starts during teenage years like age 13. One important thing we should remember that it is different from shyness. It can work in two forms like in narrow form talking to people or in broadly form fear of performing poorly in front of many people. In both forms it creates impact on person’s life.

 

Causes

The actual causes of social anxiety disorder are not known yet. But like other mental disorders, researchers believed that it can occur from the interaction of both genetic and environmental factors.

• Structure of brain

Amygdala is the part of brain which plays role in the controlling of the fear response. So it is thought that the people who have overactive amygdala they may have this disorder.

• Environment

Some people can develop this disorder after seeing their parents modeling the fear response in this situation or they may also develop this after facing unpleasant situations. 

• Negative experiences

Many negative experiences like sexual abuses, bullying or family conflict can be the reason behind this.

Serotonin imbalance can contribute to the condition of this disorder. The children who are raised in the overprotective or controlling environment can be the cause also. And this disorder can also run in the families. Temperaments, working in new area or situations or attention drawing work situations can also trigger the symptoms.

 

Symptoms

Simply shyness is not considered as the symptoms of social anxiety disorder. Especially in children this can be found and it is normal. People’s comfort level varies from situation to situation because of their personality.

But it is different for the people who are suffering from social anxiety disorder. Because it includes some kind of fear, anxiety and avoidance that really hampers people daily life. The common symptoms are given below

Psychological symptoms

Intense fear of talking with strangers.

They have worry about humiliating of themselves in front of others.

They always have feared that someone will judge them negatively.

They try to avoid doing things or speaking to people because of the fear of embarrassment.

They also try to avoid situation where they might be the center of attention.

They feel intense anxiety or fear during any social situations.

They try to analyze their performance and try to find flaws in them.

They always fear that someone will notice that they feel anxious etc.

Children will show anxiety when they try to interact with others by showing crying, refusing to talk to others.

Physical symptoms

    blushing

    difficulty in speaking

    excessive sweating

    nausea or vomiting

    shaking or trembling

    fast heartbeat

    muscle tension

    dizziness or feeling that mind has gone blank etc.

Avoiding social situations

They try to avoid the common social situation because of the intense fear and anxiety. They avoid

  eating in front of others

  dating

  using public restroom

  going to school or work

  interview

  eye contact

  attending social gatherings

  any kind of conversation with people

  shopping etc.

People feel relax for a little period of time after avoiding these. But it doesn’t help you in long term. So it’s important to take treatment if you are having these symptoms for a better life.

 

Diagnosis

Actually there is no test for finding out if you are suffering from social anxiety disorder or not. So professional people will use some criteria for diagnose it.

They will ask you about your symptoms, how often they occur. They will also give you some physical exam to check if these symptoms are occurring because of this or not. Also ask you to list the situations where you get this or use some questionnaire to see the symptoms.

Basically they use the DSM-5 criteria for assessing the social anxiety disorder. The criteria are given below

  the fear of being negatively evaluated by or offensive to others

  exposure to the social situations almost always produce anxiety

  avoidance of feared situations

  intense fear and anxiety in social situations in which people could be exposed to possible scrutiny by others, duration at least last 6 months.

  anxiety that hampers daily life.

 

Treatment

There are some treatments which can help people to improve in life despite having this disorder. But treatment differs on how much this anxiety affects you and your daily life. Psychotherapy and medications both work well.

Psychotherapy

This treatment methods work well to improve your symptoms of social anxiety disorder.

   Cognitive behavioral therapy

It helps people to understand your thoughts and teach you how to control anxiety through relaxation and also how to replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts.

   Exposure therapy

It will teach you how to face social situations gradually.

Another one is group therapy, where people learn social skills and some techniques to interact with people in social situations.

Medications

For treating social anxiety disorder antidepressant medicines are usually used. A type of medicine called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) is used in this disorder but can’t use below 15 years.

So for the better results don’t give up treatment early if it doesn’t show any positive response. Try to stick to the treatment plan. And also use some techniques like avoiding alcohol or drug, try to limit caffeine, get enough sleep, learn some stress reduction skills, exercise regularly, try to attend public events and show interest in others and try to talk with them.

It’s time to close today’s post. But I hope that it will help anyone to understand what social anxiety disorder is and how to deal with it. So if you think you are suffering from this please try to reach a professional and get a better life. Thank you and see you in the next post. Bye.

 

Sources

 Social anxiety disorder. In: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-5. 5th ed. Arlington, Va.: American Psychiatric Association; 2013.