Social Anxiety Disorder Or Social Phobia

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Phobias are a type of anxiety disorder characterized by a persistent, exaggerated, irrational fear of certain objects or situations and by efforts to avoid the object or situation (Piotrowski, 2003, pp. 1141-1143). There are many people affected by a vast array of phobias from Ablutophobia to Zoophobia. These psychiatric disorders affect the lives of many in ways that some of us couldn’t even fathom. One of the most common of these disorders is the social anxiety disorder or social phobia. Specifically, social phobia is a strong fear of being judged by others and of being embarrassed (“Social Phobia”). For example, a person affected by this disorder may have a fear of public speaking or even meeting a new person.
The main cause of phobias, …show more content…

Physical symptoms of this disorder include excessive blushing/red face ,trembling/shaking, sweating, nausea, shortness of breath, racing heart or tightness of chest and feeling dizzy or faint (Smith & Jaffe-Gill, 2015). Of course, some people have different triggers that cause anxiety in them such as talking in front of a crowd/group of people. Emotional symptoms include excessive self-consciousness and anxiety in everyday social situations, intense worry for days, weeks, or even months before an upcoming social situation, extreme fear of being watched or judged by others, especially people you don’t know, fear that you’ll act in ways that that will embarrass or humiliate yourself and fear that others will notice that you’re nervous (Smith & Jaffe-Gill, 2015). People suffering from social phobia tend to avoid these situations as much as possible resulting in additional changes in …show more content…

This means that it affects roughly 12% of the population, with men and women equally as likely to develop the disorder. Additionally, social phobia usually begins in childhood or early adolescences (“Social Phobia”). Social anxiety can be reduced or overcome by the use of various strategies as well. One can learn to challenge negative thoughts, control breathing through deep breathing exercises and regular practice of relaxation techniques as well as facing the feared social situations head on (Smith & Jaffe-Gill, 2015). There are many self-induced methods of eliminating/ lessening the effect of social anxiety on an individual, professional help can also be used in tandem with the lifestyle