The major dilemma with people in any society is social phobia. All of us have to make great efforts to resolve it. Many times, people with social anxiety simply must be unaccompanied with door closed behind them. A person with social anxiety may feel over whelmed and have a feeling that others are observing their movement. One of the most horrible circumstances is meeting people who are influential personality. People may feel awkward and their facial muscles may freeze up when they meet person. They can not speak well and some physical problems are also observed with people having such type of fear. Person with social anxiety find himself in difficult situation if he has to for job interview and he thinks it is an extreme torture. Fear may be so severe that people with this anxiety can not work in school, offices or other ordinary activities. While many people with social phobia identify that their fear of being around people may be unnecessary or irrational, they are incapable to defeat it. They often worry for days or weeks in advance of frightened circumstances. Unlike some other psychological problems, social anxiety is not well understood by the general public or by medical and mental health care professionals, such as doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, social workers, and counselors. In fact, people with social worry are misdiagnosed almost in many cases. People with social phobia come to clinic labeled as "schizophrenic", "manic-depressive", "clinically depressed", "panic disordered", and "personality disordered", among other damaging misdiagnoses.
Social phobia occurs in women twice as often as in men, although a higher proportion of men seek assistance for this disorder. The disorder typically begins in childhood or early adolescence and hardly ever develops after age 25. Social phobia is dissimilar from shyness. Shy people are able to partake in social activities but people with social phobia can not perform any social function or they have severe problems. The most common fears of people with social phobia are speaking in public, meeting new people, eating, drinking, and writing in public, using public restrooms, attending parties and other social occasions.
Physical symptoms of social phobia are intense anxiety of social phobia and include blushing, profuse sweating, trembling, and other symptoms of anxiety, including difficulty talking and nausea or other stomach discomfort. These noticeable symptoms intensify the fear of condemnation and the symptoms themselves can become an additional focus of fear. Fear of symptoms can create a sadistic cycle. People with social phobia be troubled about experiencing the symptoms, the greater their chances of developing the symptoms. Social phobia often runs in families and may be accompanied by depression or alcohol dependence. Many factors can augment the risk of developing social anxiety disorder such as sex. Women are more prone to it as compared to men in our society. Some research indicates that people likely to develop social anxiety disorder if their parents or siblings have the condition. Some experts speculate that social anxiety disorder is a learned behavior. That is, people may develop the condition after observing anxious behavior of others. In addition, there may be a connection between social anxiety disorder and parents who are more controlling or protective of their children. Children who experience teasing, bullying, rejection, ridicule or humiliation may be more prone to social anxiety disorder. In addition, other negative events in life, such as family conflict or sexual abuse, may be linked with social anxiety disorder. Children who are shy, timid, withdrawn or restrained when facing new situations or people may be at greater risk.
Diagnosis is done by experts. They conduct both a physical and psychological evaluation. The physical exam can determine if there may be any physical causes triggering your symptoms. There's no laboratory test to diagnose social anxiety disorder. Doctor will ask patient to explain signs and symptoms, how often they occur and in what situations. Doctor then review a list of situations to see if they make patient anxious or ask patient to fill out psychological questionnaires or self-assessments to help identify a diagnosis.
Criteria for social anxiety disorder to be diagnosed are based on following factor:
A persistent fear of social situations in which you believe you may be scrutinized or act in a way that's embarrassing or humiliating. These social situations cause you a great deal of anxiety. Patient recognizes his anxiety level is excessive or out of proportion for the situation. Patient avoids anxiety-producing social situations. His anxiety or distress interferes with daily living. If treatment is not given at time, social anxiety disorder can be devastating. Patient‘s anxieties may run his life. They can interfere with work, school, relationships or enjoyment of life. He may be considered an underachiever when in reality it's just a fear holding him back from do extremely well. In severe cases, he may drop out of school, quit work or lose friendships. Social anxiety disorder can also lead to other health problems, such as substance abuse, excessive drinking, depression, suicide.
Social anxiety responds to relatively short-term therapy, depending on the severity of the condition. There is better life for all people with social anxiety. The aim of treatment is to assist the person function successfully. The success of the treatment usually depends on the severity of the phobia. Systematic desensitization is used to treat such phobias. The person is asked to relax, and then imagine the components of the phobia, working from the least fearful to the most fearful. Graded real-life exposure has also been used with success to help people overcome their fears. Social skills training may involve social contact in a group therapy situation to practice social skills. Role playing and modeling are techniques used to help the person gain comfort in relating to others in a social situation. Doctors recommend anti-anxiety and anti-depressive medications to relieve the symptoms associated with phobias. Some positive coping methods are erasing negative thoughts about self, practicing relaxation exercises, adopting stress management, reaching out to people patient do feel comfortable around, joining a support group, engaging in pleasurable activities, such as exercise or hobbies, when you feel anxious, getting enough sleep, eating a well-balanced diet, setting realistic goals. It has been noticed that people with social phobia can usually work together without difficulty with family and a few close friends. But meeting new people, talking in a group, or speaking in public can cause their tremendous shyness. These worries must be treated to live peaceful life.