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Social Anxiety Disorder: Fears
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Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a common, chronic psychiatric disorder characterized by a persistent fear of social or performance situations in which embarrassment can occur. This disorder typically appears during the mid-adolescent years and is unremitting throughout life if not properly treated. SAD presents as two subtypes: the more common and debilitating generalized form, and the nongeneralized form, which consists predominantly of performance anxiety. The majority of patients with SAD have comorbid mental disorders, including mood, anxiety, and substance abuse. No single development theory has been proposed to account for the origins of SAD, although current understanding of the etiology of SAD posits an interaction between psychological and biological factors. Risk factors include environmental and parenting influences and dysfunctional cognitive and conditioning events in early childhood.
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Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized by the fear and avoidance of social or performance situations where patients feel that others may scrutinize them and they may embarrass themselves. According to the NIMH, SAD affects approximately 15 million adults in the United States. Despite the prevalence of the disorder, SAD remains underdiagnosed and undertreated by clinicians. SAD patients have anticipatory anxiety about these situations, and this anxiety can become so pronounced that patients cannot function normally in their daily lives. Social anxieties can be limited to a particular situation or apply to a variety of situations. In addition to anxiety, patients experience physical symptoms including blushing, sweating, trembling, and nausea.
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Social Anxiety Disorder affects 78% of children between the ages of 9 and 14. Involved in this disorder are other major phobias that influence behavior of many children who suffer from this disorder. School phobia ,which is classified as intense avoidance of school, a fear of school or refusal from attending school, is one major phobia that needs to be addressed. Children who exhibit such behavior tend to develop social anxiety disorder due to the phobia.
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Social anxiety disorder will often have symptoms that are similar to other types of social disorder symptoms. The symptoms are triggered, though, when an individual is facing a social situation. They may experience symptoms such as sweating, a racing heart, muscle tension, problems speaking clearly, dry mouth and shaking. Of course, when the social anxiety disorder symptoms like these occur, it brings on additional fears and therefore even more worry about being judged.
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In exposure therapy for social anxiety disorder, you are exposed in a safe and controlled way to the social situation you fear. Just as it is used in the treatment of other types of phobias, exposure therapy for social phobia involves gradual, repeated encounters with the situation you fear. If you’re uncomfortable in large social gatherings, your therapist may first have you imagine being at a large party. Using relaxation techniques, you will imagine this anxiety-producing party until the fear begins to subside. Once you are able to imagine going to a party without fear, you may expose yourself to a party in real life. With each successful exposure experience, you feel an increasing sense of control over your social phobia and you become desensitized to your fear.
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Social anxiety is an intense feeling of fear, apprehension or worry regarding any or all social situations or public events. It is sometimes known as [S]ocial phobia and, less commonly, social trauma. In psychiatry, it is diagnosed as social anxiety disorder, a form of anxiety disorder. According to United States epidemiological data, it is currently the third largest mental health care problem in the world. The disorder is treatable with medical and therapeutic treatments available.
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