Shyness- A normal variant of behavior or a disorder - Term Paper Example

?Shyness- A normal variant of behavior or a disorder? Shyness- A normal variant of behavior or a disorder? [institute’s Shynessis a phenomenon that could be described by feelings of anxiety, nervousness and self-consciousness in different types of social situations (M.Cheek). It can further be described by words such as reserve, reticence, embarrassment and social anxiety. Shyness could lead to three levels of sensations whenever a person is placed in a social situation which could lead to embarrassment, such as public speaking, performing in front of a huge crowd or even meeting new people. Firstly various physiological sensations are aroused. Such as sweaty palms, stomach aches, dry throat, blushing, pounding heart, etc. (Jessen) The second, cognitive part of shyness includes, self-awareness, nervousness, self-deprecating thoughts, fear of being negatively assessed by others. And the third component includes noticeable behavior, such as awkwardness, wringing one’s hands, shaking legs and avoiding eye contact. Either of these responses depends on the actual situation a person is placed into. (Hofmann, 2007)Certain circumstances which require aggressive and self-confident behavior, or meeting new people, or situations in which it is essential to know how the other person assess you, such as an interview , are considered the highest rated conditions, in which one could incur an episode of shyness. The feeling of social anxiety is considered normal, and it occurs when one is preparing for a major event, and it actually helps one prepare and rehearse well for the event. It also helps prevent one from displaying any form of socially unacceptable behavior, and helps make a person appear more modest. (james, pp. 1-2) In fact if an individual fails to display feelings of anxiety in such situations, then that is considered a problem, since it is considered a normal part of human development and one’s emotional growth. Generally, humans seem to become more confident as they grow older, as they face new situations, overcome their fears, and move on. According to a study conducted in the University if Stavanger in Norway, students are more likely to show symptoms of depression along with shyness. This form of isolation is more common amongst females, and leads to cases of substance abuse and in some extreme cases, to suicide. Scientists classify shyness as being multifaceted including emotional, mental and behavioral components. Since, shyness leads to withdrawal from the crowd and a lack of interaction with peers; it causes a negative impact on the emotional state of an individual, especially in teenagers, hence leading to cases of severe depression. At this point in time, teenagers need help not only from their parents and doctors, but from their teachers as well. Because it is hard to get through to adolescents at that delicate age, and could lead to permanent damage. Teachers should be trained to look out for the symptoms of shyness such as, when the student does not participate in class, doesn’t respond when spoken to, avoids eye contact, is soft spoken and is usually normal and studies but when asked to give a presentation performs poorly. If a teacher disapproves this behavior and that to in front of other students, this could have an even more detrimental effect on the student. Punishing students that are shy is not the answer. Instead the teacher could give them extra counseling hours, or treat them kindly and pair them up with other students in the class to increase interaction. Teachers should also steer clear of labeling the student as ‘shy’, because that way other students could bother him or it could lead to the child believing that he is shy and can never overcome this problem, leading to even lower self-esteem issues. Parents should also be careful while handling such a child, because whichever type of treatment they may choose, it could backfire. At this point in time, there are many children who have gone deeper into their shell of isolation, just because they have been termed as shy, imagine what will happen, if shyness were to be termed as a disorder. (Murberg, 2009) However, it may not be so simple to overcome these feelings for some people and they might show some of the most extreme symptoms of anxiety and shyness, enough for it to be considered a part of their character. (Nancy A. Heiser *) Shyness usually develops, in adolescents, because once a child enters the teenage, he becomes more socially aware of his surroundings, and begins to think critically as well. Also, the new physical changes brought about due to puberty could lead to further increase in an individual being shy and also socially distant. Shyness is also found among infants and children between the ages of 2-5. But once parents realize that their child is shy and is not so active when it comes to social situations, they can help the child overcome such feelings, by increasing exposure and praising them to increase their level of confidence. If the problem of shyness is dealt with during the early stages of one’s life, chances are that the individual will not feel shy in social situations once they are in their adult hood. (D'Souza, Gowda, & Gowda, 2006)All these individuals who are suffering from extreme levels of shyness are said to be victims of social anxiety disorder. Social anxiety disorder could be defined as a feeling of severe fear, where the patient is so over whelmed with panic and dread that he or she is unable to perform their everyday routines or live their lives fully. The basic symptom of SAD patients is the fear of constantly being scrutinized by other individuals, along with the physical symptoms related to shyness, but are displayed in a much more extreme form. Modern day psychologists hypothesize social anxiety as a form of competitive anxiety, which occurs in situations where one is competing for a certain position or so as to save or build one’s reputation. SAD or social anxiety disorder is included in the diagnostic statistical manual for mental disorders (DSM) but the diagnostic criteria, for the clinical form of SAD is not clearly stated. Social anxiety disorder is considered as one of the most common form of disorders found in the United States of America, today. It has an early on-set stage in 50 % of the individuals who are about eleven years of age, and a late on-set stage, in about 80% of the individuals who are above 20 years of age. (Nancy A. Heiser ?, 2003)The basic concern of the individual is that he will say or do something that could result in humiliation and embarrassment, as well as criticism from others. Even though the DSM has played a great role in helping psychologists identify the various clinical illnesses of their patients, the standards for each condition are man-made and hence, cannot be termed as completely accurate. But the question arises that how did shyness become categorized as a disorder? Christopher Lane answers this very question in his book: “Shyness: how normal behavior became a sickness”. He concentrates on how with the help of psychologists, drug companies and journalists, shyness, a normal personality trait, became to be classified as a mental sickness or a personality disorder. According to Lane, everyone human being faces some form of shyness, if not crippling shyness, and panic attacks, when faced with certain social pressures. But what he does not understand is the fine line between shyness and a mental disorder. Under what circumstances can a psychologist diagnose a patient with a disorder, and at what point is it just simple shyness? Up until a few years ago, shyness was just seen as a sign of being socially remote and withdrawn, rather than as a mental illness. This means that if in the new edition of the DSM i.e. the DSM V, shyness is categorized as a mental disorder then people of our generation would be under a constant threat. Children would be afraid of telling their parents that they do not want to perform on stage just because of the fear of being categorized as someone who is mentally ill. (Shields, Social anxiety disorder: Much more than shyness, 2005) A person will not be able to have any sort of alone time in a social gathering or eat along in a restaurant, without someone wondering if he’s suffering from a disorder. Social anxiety disorder was already a part of the DSM in the nineties, adding social phobia to DSM V would give pharmaceutical companies and excuse to publicize it and mint money off it. A lot of critics argue that the DSM is just a manual which labels perfectly normal human behaviors as illnesses that need to be treated with expensive therapy and in some extreme cases with medication. Shyness is a perfectly normal feeling, which children tend to experience the most, as they are growing up and as are introduce to the big terrifying world. Labeling these innocent feelings as a mental disorder, could be termed as rather inhumane (Neerguard) . As stated earlier, as these children grow up they tend to become more confident and tend to forego their shy feelings. Some individuals may prefer to remain isolated and socially remote, but that is just one of the signs of an introvert individual. On a scale shyness could be classified as normal shyness on one end, which can be overcome easily, extreme shyness including panic attacks in the center, and on the other end of the scale lies social phobia or social anxiety disorder. Individuals, who suffer from social anxiety disorder, face a lot of unpleasant symptoms which they generally try to avoid. But that makes things worse, since avoidance leads to a ‘maintenance cycle’ (Hofmann, 2007)where that person tries to avert any social circumstance, and hence feels better when is alone, and it goes on, till that person isolates oneself completely. Therefore treatment is essential so that people facing such a problem can lead their lives to the fullest. The basic treatment for this disorder is cognitive behavior therapy. But some critics believe that taking medication is not the answer and definitely not for something like shyness, which could be overcome with therapy, even in severe cases. People who are against the addition of shyness in DSM V also argue about the fact that people will have to through a number of diagnostic experiments and could also be misdiagnosed, since the demarcation between shyness and social phobia is so unclear (Lane.). A completely normal person could be made to undergo treatment and medication. Pharmaceutical companies can use this to their advantage and can market a certain drug with taglines such as “cures shyness” or “helps you talk to strangers”; such sort of media campaigns could lead to our future generations actually thinking that shyness is a disease. About 20 to 30 years back, traits such as shyness, timidness and modesty, were encouraged rather than being looked down on. But now if shy behavior is termed as a disorder, this will lead to people being more arrogant, over-confident and would tend to people being more showy and flashy in public. Are psychiatrists really willing to change people’s perceptions this way? Another argument against adding shyness to the list of disorders includes the threat to the field of psychiatry. Everyone knows that there are many psychiatric illnesses that do not have proper treatment or cures available and they remain untreated, such as schizophrenia, mania, and major depression. According to Arthur Klein man, a well know psychiatrist, minor forms of anxiety and depression will distract attention and research of major disorders such as schizophrenia, and they will remain incurable. Therefore people like Christopher Lane and Arthur Klienman, continue to argue that labeling shyness or anxiety as major disorders will not help anyone. Not even the patient himself, let alone patients of much more major mental illnesses. (Lane.) The primary concern of classifying shyness as disorder is the possibility that child hood shyness could be termed as a mental illness (Hope). And this concern arose with the proposed changes for the 5th edition of the DSM. What psychiatrists and psychologists warn us about is that many children could be given a psychiatric diagnosis which could prevent them from living normal lives. According to Simon Wessely, of the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College, they need to be very careful before they broadened the definitions of illness and disorder, and brought more conditions under the same category. The number of disorders as proposed by the American Psychiatric Association has been on the rise is since 1917, and the number has risen from 59 to a whopping 347, till the 4th edition of the DSM. Many people argue that there is no need for so many labels, and that this is just a way for drug companies to make more drugs, and market more disorders, to increase their sales. If such changes were made, imagine how children will be teased in the playground just for being shy. That is just not right. (Hope) Now one must discuss how people with social anxiety disorder or crippling shyness can be treated. The traditional treatments for SAD include psychological and cognitive behavior therapy. The first step, as with any other form of therapy is to help the patient realize that they suffer from such a disorder and help them accept the fact, that it can be treated. And also to make them realize that social situations and public gatherings are nothing to be afraid of and that they are not dangerous. Therapy helps them talk about their fears, and admit them to the psychiatrist. Also it is the psychiatrist’s job to change the way a patient views his fears. With the help of therapy you could instill confidence in the patient and make them realize that attending social events, such as parties and dinners, will be good for them and will not in any way harm them. Apart from reducing avoidance, therapy should include certain activities that would help patients change their thought process, and think positively about all social activities. Asking them questions and conversing with them to address all their fears, would also help the patient greatly. For example, if a patient doesn’t attend parties and other social gatherings because of the fear that they will not like him or her, and will judge their appearance, then one could ask if anyone actually told them that they disliked them or that they had issues with them. That will help them reduce their negative thinking. Helping them repeatedly face their fears will make them realize, that whatever they feared was actually nothing to be scared of in the first place. They will begin to realize that people actually do like them. (Guastella, 2009) Research shows that even though cognitive behavior therapy is considered the best to treat social phobia, there is a 30% relapse rate, that is, the patient is more like to go back into the anxiety phase, and not be able to overcome his or her fears. Research is also continuing in a much more radical approach for treatment. As science has progressed over the years, scientists have been able to study the human brain much more carefully too. The amygdala is the part of the brain that is responsible for detecting, processing and overcoming such fears. There are special receptors in this part of the brain that help an individual learn to overcome these fears. In people suffering from social anxiety disorder or social phobia, a chemical is released which blocks these receptors. Certain medication can be taken to reduce the production of these chemicals so that learning to overcome social phobia is easier. Therefore, combining the use of these drugs along with therapy can help the patient recover from this disorder much more quickly and permanently, with a lesser rate of relapse. (Guastella, 2009) Works Cited (n.d.). Beyond shyness and stage fright: social anxiety disorder: irrational fear of personal rejection constricts and damages lives, but it can be dispelled with treatment. (n.d.). Harvard mental health letter. D'Souza, L., Gowda, R., & Gowda, S. (2006). Relationship Between Shyness and Fear Among High School Students#. Pakistan Journal of Psychological Research, 53-55. Guastella, A. (2009). A Cure for SHYNESS. 33-34. Hofmann, S. G. (2007). Painfully Shy, Socially Phobic: An Inquiry Into the World of social anxiety. 1-5. Hope, J. (n.d.). Shyness in a child could be classed as mental illness. daily Mail, 1-2. james, p. (n.d.). Let us now praise shyness. Boston Globe, 1-2. Jessen, C. (n.d.). SHYNESS' CAN CRIPPLE LIVES: VITAL SIGNS. Evening Standard, 1. Lane., C. (n.d.). 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