Social Anxiety Disorder: Fear Can Overwhelm You
Social anxiety or social phobia may have you afraid of leaving your house if you know you will have to interact with people in any way. This disorder can affect you and how you deal effectively with people as well as your family and friends. This phobia can prevent people from living a normal life because of how it manifests itself within the person. Anyone suffering from this disorder has an overwhelming fear bordering on irrationality when it comes to interacting with people or even if they are in a position where people will be observing them. Social phobia tends to affect their life people to the point where they are unable to have an active, productive and healthy lifestyle. This article will discuss how you know you may have social anxiety phobia and what you can do to get some help for it.
How Do You Know If You Suffer from Social Anxiety Disorder?
Social anxiety is the fear and anxiety of being judged and evaluated by other people. If a person becomes noticeably anxious during social situations, but does not have the same reaction in the comfort of their home, then social phobia may be the culprit to their uncomfortableness. When someone is suffering from social anxiety they are usually unable to function in normal social events. Their life is affected negatively because they may be afraid of certain people, cannot function in front of people and may not be able to interact publicly in front of or with their colleagues.
Communication is very difficult for them especially if it involves communicating in front of people they are not familiar with or when having to interact with supervisors. When this happens, it makes it very difficult for them to continue working because they have a tendency to frequently switch jobs in an effort to avoid having to deal with a large amount of people. Their constant thought process is that people are criticizing and judging their every move. They are so paranoid out of fear that they will or are being disgraced and judged by onlookers. These are the internal symptoms that may go on when the disorder occurs. Other issues that may trigger anxiety are:
- Being introduced to other people
- Being teased or criticized
- Being the center of attention
- Being watched or observed while doing something
- Having to say something in a formal, public situation
- Meeting people in authority
- Feeling insecure and out of place in social situations
- Embarrassing easily
- Having to look someone in the eye
- Swallowing, writing, talking, making phone calls in public
External signs of social phobia may included nervousness when speaking, sweaty palms or even beads of perspiration may be seen because of the amount of anxiety they are feelings. As hard as you try, you may not be able to overcome this on your own. That is alright, because you don’t have to deal with this on your own. You have taken the first step if you recognize the symptoms. There are treatments for this disorder, and your next step should be to seek some professional help.
Treating Social Anxiety Disorder
There are two main types of treatment for social anxiety. There is medication available that will help to calm down the anxiety and fears that come with this disorder. Therapy is also often suggested as a way to overcome this phobia. One of the best treatments appears to be using a combination of the two methods. Understand that overcoming this phobia is not something that will disappear overnight. Family or friends are especially important for people who are dealing with social phobia. The right support system can help a person with social phobia gather the courage to go outside their comfort zone and try something new. It may take many years to get rid of social anxiety and there is a chance that the person may always have it to some degree. The key for sufferers of this phobia is to be open to taking steps to minimize the fears associated with social anxiety so that they can lead normal, happy and socially active lives.
Tagged with: fear • social anxiety • social anxiety disorder • social anxiety disorder symptoms. shyness • social phobia
Filed under: Social Anxiety
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