Social Anxiety Disorder Case Study

Susan is a 32 year old Japanese female who enters treatment for what she calls “anxiety attacks”. She tells you that, “What if I have one of those awful attacks when I am at the store. What if it happens at a restaurant? Oh my gosh, what if I faint at my daughter’s school. I know I will just die of embarrassment”. She describes a recent incident in the grocery store where she was standing in line and became sweaty, nervous, and dizzy. She just knew that “everyone was staring at me and I had to drop my groceries and run. Now I can never go back to that store. I just know it will happen again and that they’ll dial 911. I can just order groceries on line and avoid the whole issue.” She tells you that “no one seems to understand how I feel. Not my husband or even my medical doctor. I

Susan would appear to have at least five symptoms of a Social Anxiety Disorder: intense, disproportionate, and persistent fear or anxiety regarding social conditions (e.g., restaurant, daughters’ school, grocery store) where Susan could be exposed to public scrutiny; fear of being negatively evaluated by other people; anxiety is caused by exposer to social situations; avoidance of the feared social situation (she is ordering groceries online instead of visiting the grocery store were her most recent episode occurred); and significant distress or impairment (Comer, 2014). Note, while many individuals with social anxiety may experience panic attacks, Susan’s major concern is regarding a fear of negative evaluation by others, whereas in panic disorders the primary concern is about the symptoms of the panic attacks themselves (Comer,2014). Social anxiety disorder has begun to significantly impair her functioning in multiple areas of her life. She already begun to avoid the grocery store and this fear is generalizing to restaurants and her daughter’s