Social Phobia or Social Anxiety - Research Paper Example

Social Phobia or Social Anxiety Fear of being stared at is common to most animals, including humans. Normal social conversation involves being under the gaze of strangers, friends and colleagues and also, interactions that are usually navigated without conscious thought. A girl avoids going to a tuck shop because she has to wait in a queue and she is afraid that people will stare at her. Another person is so lonely and wants to go out to some party, but he never goes anywhere because he is too nervous to meet new people. It is hard for a man to walk down the street just because he feels self-conscious and thinks people are watching him from their windows. A student misses orientation class at university because he thinks that the teacher will ask him to introduce himself in class and he won’t be able to do that. A person hates to go to work because the meeting is scheduled the next day and every individual has to present his/her point of view about some topic. In reality, all of these people know somewhere in their heart that these feelings are not true, but they cannot shake these feelings off. They are all conscious of the fact that people might be staring at them and will talk about them. Their anxiety and racing thoughts that they are being stared at or talked about never let them socialize; they can’t shake off this fear or feeling of anxiety. Most people feel anxious when they are in focus or become the center of attention, such as speech in classroom and presentations. These feelings are known as social phobia or anxiety, in which people don’t feel comfortable in public and avoid socializing. In public places or events such as work, shopping mall, social gatherings and on family gatherings, people with social anxiety feel that everyone is watching them closely and is talking about them; they can’t relax and enjoy around people and always feel that the eyes of others are critically evaluating them. Experiencing anxiety at public places or gathering is not uncommon, but experiencing a certain degree of anxiety in social situations is not typical. Social phobia is defined as “Intensity of the anxiety that is experienced and by accompanying distress or interference in functioning.” The current definition of phobia is a little different from early definitions. According to International and statistical classifications of disease and related health problems, social phobia is defined as “persistent fear or anxiety in situations in which a person is exposed to observation and scrutiny by other.” (Murray 4). Every person suffering from social phobia feels that he is being critically evaluated and people are making negative judgments about him and this assumption results from being seen as worrisome and anxious (e.g. Blushing, sweating, trembling or shaking) from appearing awkward, doing something embarrassing or by making mistake in front of everyone. One may say that these are all symptoms of shyness as well and he is shy, not suffering from any kind of social phobia. There is no clear definition of shyness, but shyness with others occurs in different phases through childhood and becomes common in teenagers when they turn out to be aware of what others may think about them. But this type of societal phobia, known as shyness, is very common in adolescents and decreases with age as they get exposure and experience appearing and talking in public (Andrews et. al. 1994). According to researchers people suffering from social phobia do have some family history or medical history or any incident that has caused social anxiety and social phobia to be inherent in them. One of the studies clearly shows a survey done on patients who had symptoms of social anxiety according to the results; social phobia patients have somatic symptoms, e.g. weakness in limbs, difficulty in breathing in public dizziness and faintness, etc. These symptoms showed that they already had some biological/physical weakness which was avoided by parents, but has caused strong social anxiety to them. Social phobia patients were also studied in a way of conduct; how they have been conducted or treated in family. Adolescents were asked about their relationship with their parents. Many of the patients said that they had a strict and a male dominant family; their fathers had a central role and were of the authoritarian nature, and they had unsatisfactory relationship with their parents, especially fathers. Also, the study included patients having social phobia who had someone in their family already suffering from it, which showed that it is sometimes inherited, but not true in every case. Thus, we can conclude from the study that social phobia usually starts from mid-teenage and adolescents who are shy and are afraid of socializing are particularly at risk of developing social phobia later in their personality. Children having clingy behavior, crying, aggressiveness and excessive timidity point towards temperament that can possibly put a person at risk of developing social phobia. Some people, having social phobia, point the development of the condition to be ill-treated or socially embarrassed or humiliated. An example of it is students being bullied at school in early ages. Family environment was also a major issue discussed in the development of social phobia. Generally, anxiety disorders run in the family and certain disorders may come from family history of having anxiety disorders or lean attitude or maybe, behavior from family members (Amies, Geldrand and Shaw 1983). However, studies on the cause of social phobia also show that when chemicals in the brain are not at a certain level or there is an imbalance amongst them, it can cause social phobia or social anxiety (NIMH 2007). Consequences of social anxiety reported in the research are dangerous. Social anxiety has become common and people are afraid to go to psychiatrists or to any health institute for help on the matter which causes problems in their personality and behavior, such as sleeping disorder, use of drugs, drinking too much, smoking or taking strong tea or coffee and feeling worried when there is nothing to worry about. Patients, who get too worried, either use too much alcohol or do suicidal attempts to remove anxiety. Alcohol is considered by them as a helping hand and is used to reduce anticipated anxiety and apprehension of social conditions, but it may cause only more addiction and nervousness when alcohol is not available (Amies, Geldrand & Shaw 1983). Of all the anxiety disorders and most of the mental health care problems, social phobia is most commonly misunderstood. It is the last anxiety disorder to be discovered in terms of public and professional understanding and awareness. In seeking help for such a problem, one should consult a specialist - someone who understands the problem and knows how to treat this problem. Very few treatment options for social anxiety exist, and the majority of the ones that do exist, do not adequately follow the research which exhibits how people can overcome social anxiety most successfully. Social anxiety disorders as well as other anxiety disorders can be successfully treated today. Relaxation exercises may help generally feel less anxious. New ideas and new treatment options are currently being tried, but the most effective in all is commonly referred to as cognitive development therapy and exposure therapy. Exposure therapy involves a person to get relaxation while in a situation that they find frightening. It is hard to do this all of a sudden and can be done in different stages. Start with less complicated situations and increment each time the previous situation is clear, making a situation a little more complicated, intense and frightening. The patient is first taught to relax in frightening situations and then put into a situation that would normally worry him, such as a social gathering or facing people in crowded areas. They are then helped relax and wait for their anxiety to disappear, which it usually does after a while. Second most common therapy is cognitive development therapy; it helps us through our thoughts. It says that we usually get anxious, in the way we think about things. In exposure therapy, therapists help the anxiety patients to change the way they think about themselves and other people. Someone with a social phobia would tend to think anything bad happening around is their fault and so they will start feeling worried about something which has nothing to do with them. In cognitive development therapy, the therapist will remind them that it is just as likely that it’s the fault of another person who runs out of things to say. This is a much more realistic and less worrying way of thinking about the situation (Heidenreich, Peitz, Lauterbach & Clark 2003). Social anxiety medication is helpful for many, but not everyone with social anxiety disorder. Psychologists and therapists should work with the person’s medical doctor and/or psychiatrist, if at all possible. Cases intended for generalized social anxiety, research indicates that use of anti-anxiety agents and certain anti-depressants in conjunction with cognitive therapy have proven most beneficial. Medication without the use of cognitive-behavioral therapy has proven to be only for the time being helpful (Andrews, Crino, Hunt & Lamp 1994). References Andrews G, Crino R, Hunt C, Lampe L, Page A. (1994) “Social Phobia” Patient Treatment Manual. Murray B. Stein (1995) “Social phobias: clinical research perspective" American Psychiatric Pub. 21(1) NIMH (2007) “Social Phobia” NI H Publication No. 07-4678 P. L.AMIES, M. G. GELDER and P.M. SHAW. (1983). “Social Phobia: A Comparative Clinical Study” 174(179) U. Stangier, A, T. Heidenreicha, M. Peitza, W. Lauterbacha and D. M. Clark B. (2003) “Cognitive therapy for social phobia: individual versus group treatment” Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK Read More