|
What is Social Phobia?
Is a fear that others will judge everything you do in a negative way. You may cope either by trying to do everything perfectly, limiting the amount you do (like writing, eating, speaking) in front of others or you may withdraw gradually from contact with others. Social Phobia, also know as Social Anxiety Disorder, is the third most common psychiatric condition after depression and alcoholism. Its central feature is a persistent fear of scrutiny from others. It includes a fear of social situations and interactions with other people that automatically bring on feelings of self-consciousness, judgement and negative evaluation.
A specific social phobia may be a fear of public speaking; a generalised social phobia occurs when a person is anxious, nervous and uncomfortable in almost all social situations.
What are the symptoms? People with this disorder experience significant emotional distress in the following situations: The physical symptoms that occur include: Franz Kafka once said, “But if I am in an unfamiliar place with a number of strange people...then the whole room presses on my chest. My whole personality seems to get under their skins and everything gets hopeless.”
Specific Phobia Phobias usually involve fear about particular objects or situations. They cause major disruptions in your daily living. You may go to great lengths to avoid confronting the particular object or situation. Having a fear is not so unusual, but when it interferes with getting on with responsibilities in your life, then it can become a problem. For example, having a fear of flying is not a problem until you find yourself planning a holiday overseas or find you need to travel for your job.
Social Phobia, also know as Social Anxiety Disorder, is the third most common psychiatric condition after depression and alcoholism. Its central feature is a persistent fear of scrutiny from others. It includes a fear of social situations and interactions with other people that automatically bring on feelings of self-consciousness, judgement and negative evaluation. A specific social phobia may be a fear of public speaking a generalised social phobia occurs when a person is anxious, nervous and uncomfortable in almost all social situations. WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS? People with this disorder experience significant emotional distress in the following situations: -
The physical symptoms that occur include: OVERCOMING SOCIAL PHOBIA People with social phobia know that their fear is irrational but often attribute it to some personal fault not recognising it for what it is. Social phobia, as with the other anxiety problems, can be treated successfully. Gaining an understanding and awareness of the problem is probably the first step in overcoming social phobia. WHAT TREATMENT IS AVAILABLE? There are a number of therapies that have proven effective in the treatment of social phobia. Systematic desensitisation where a person is taught relaxation techniques and through combining a relaxed body state with thought of the feared situation a person gradually overcomes their fears. Another form of therapy is Exposure therapy where a person is immersed in their feared situation with the idea that they have faced their worst fear and survived. Cognitive therapy assists a person to change thought patterns associated with the phobia. Medications are often prescribed but have not been found to be effective without some additional therapy. Medication can play a useful role to overcome some of the distressing symptoms in order for a person to get to work or simply get out of the house. However to prevent recurrence it is best used in conjunction with therapy.
Disclaimer
 to “Your Health Success” our monthly F’R’E’E’ Newsletter
Back to Top of Social Phobia page
============================================================================
|
