Essay On Social Phobia

“Is a 17-item Likert-type self-report instrument assessing fear, avoidance, and physiological symptoms associated with social phobia”

There are a few different types of anxiety. The six most common anxieties are generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder (anxiety attacks), phobia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and social anxiety disorder. People with GAD are constantly worried with no idea why and could have physical symptoms like insomnia, stomach upset, restlessness, and fatigue. Someone with OCD might have unwanted thoughts or behaviors that seem impossible to stop and may suffer from uncontrollable compulsions, like washing hands over and over again. A person with panic disorder may suffer from panic attacks and may also have agoraphobia, which is a fear of being in places where escape or help would be difficult in the event of a panic attack. People with phobias have an unrealistic fear of an object, activity, or situation, and may try to avoid the fear which only makes the phobia worse. Someone with post-traumatic stress disorder can have flashbacks or nightmares about a something traumatic that happened in the past. A person with social anxiety may not want anyone to see them negatively or worry a lot about what people think about them, and may be seen as extremely shy. Someone with social anxiety might also have performance anxiety or stage

Phobia is an acquired fear whenever we sense danger or when we are confronted with something new or unknown that seems potentially dangerous. It can be social anxiety disorder which characterized by excessive fear or anxiety about one or more social situations or specific phobia that developed when a person has an encounter with an object or situation that involves or provokes fear. Phobias vary in severity among individuals. Although phobias are common, they do not necessarily cause significant disruption of everyday activities.

Anxiety is one of the most well-known disorders across the globe, but it comes in many different forms effecting numerous types of people. Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), also known as social phobia, is one of the main run-offs of anxiety that exists in the world today. It is absolutely normal to feel a little nervous or anxious before trying something new; however, Social Anxiety impels the individual diagnosed to feel distress and agitation in most, if not all, social situations that they partake in because they are afraid of the possible embarrassment that may come from it (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013).

Physiological effects, similar to those in other anxiety disorders, are present in social phobics. For example, when faced with an uncomfortable situation, children with SAD may display tantrums, weeping, clinging to parents, and shutting themselves out. In adults, it may manifest as tears, excessive sweating, nausea, shaking, and palpitations as a result of the fight-or-flight response. Additionally, blushing may be exhibited by the individuals thus, further reinforcing the anxiety in the presence of others.

As pharmaceutical companies began advertising on television several years ago, many prescription drug advertisements flooded the airwaves. One such drug was for the treatment of "social anxiety disorder," also called "social phobia." In investigating the causes, symptoms, and treatment of social anxiety disorder, I found that while drug companies and some researchers have hailed the unveiling of a drug for social anxiety as an important step, others feel that the disorder is poorly defined and its prevalence is exaggerated. Therefore, the following questions emerged: how did the diagnostic category of "social anxiety disorder" come about? How much of the disorder is rooted in cultural views of

Though most people might believe that mental disorders are rare, it is actually common, and nearly 42.5 million of American adults in the United States suffer from it. A common diagnosed mental disorder are anxiety disorders. A specific type of the anxieties is social anxiety. Social anxiety is a type of specific phobia that a person has an excessive fear of social situations. A common form would be public speaking. This type of disorder has the intense nervousness and self-consciousness when being watched, and fears the feeling of being criticized. Though social anxiety is more of an internal illness, physical symptoms are shown. The physical symptoms include sweating, shaking, muscle tension, upset stomach, and excessive heart pounding. Without treatment, this type of feeling builds the fear of that individuals by distorting their thinking of false beliefs about the social situations. The negative and fearful thoughts prevail the individual’s normal daily routine, and this can lead into more fearful social situation.

Social fears are considered an anxiety disorder and include excessive self-consciousness in social situations. Some people can fear being judged so much they avoid specific situations. All of these fears seem simple but they are quite difficult to overcome. On the other hand, there are some weird phobias that are hard to understand if you don't have them such as Hylophobia- fear of trees. Nomophobia- fear of being without mobile phone coverage.

The feeling of anxiety is familiar to all of us and we all experienced some anxiety and fear at least once in our life. Whether that was the first day in a new workplace, the first day in college, or before an important meeting, we felt that we were really anxious and nervous. From the evolutionary perspective, the conservation of fear and anxiety among some species is a good indication that those emotions are highly important for survival. Some people, however, experience an excessive and unreasonable amount of anxiety, which may be the result of social anxiety disorder. Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a psychological disorder during which people experience enormous social phobia and are irrationally afraid of being judged by others in social settings (Lima Osório, 2013).Although it is considered as a common anxiety disorder, I do believe that with appropriate treatments and therapies, individual approach to each patient and willingness to help them, many people can overcome the social phobia, can make stronger interpersonal relationships with their friends and relatives, and can integrate into their social community with no or at least less fear of communicating with others.

For example if you have a fast heartbeat, trouble catching your breath, confusion or feeling out of body, Muscle tension, Upset stomach, and dizziness or lightheadedness are all signs that you may have social anxiety. Social anxiety disorder can also be caused from emotional and psychological symptoms. For example, Fear of situations where you can be judged, fear of blushing, sweating, trembling or having a shaky voice, expecting the worse out of situations and avoiding being the center of attention are emotional symptom. Worrying about social situations or worrying about a social event for weeks are Psychological symptoms. People who try to avoid any social situations also can be a sign of social anxiety. For example, if a person avoids attending parties, Social gathering, talking to strangers, making eye contact or entering a room where people are already seated at or avoid any public places, are symptoms of social anxiety disorder. In the article, “Social Anxiety Disorder” (Mayoclinic.com) said,” Signs and symptoms of social anxiety disorder can include persistent: Fear of situations in which you may be judged, Worrying about embarrassing or humiliating yourself, Concern that you'll offend someone, intense fear of interacting or talking with strangers, fear that others will notice that you look anxious, fear of physical symptoms

Social Phobia, also called social anxiety disorder (SAD), is one of the most common, but misconstrued mental health problems in society. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), over 15 million adults suffer from the disorder. First appearing in the DSM-III as Social Phobia, and later in the DSM-IV as Social Anxiety Disorder, this newly established disorder denotes afflicting stress and anxiety associated with social situations (Zakri 677). According to James W. Jefferson, two forms of Social phobia exist: specific and generalized. Specific social phobia indicates anxiety limited to few performance situations, while generalized indicates anxiety in all social situations (Jefferson). Many people often interchangeably link this disorder to shyness––a personality trait. However, although they have striking similarities, the two are divergent. To begin with, SAD has an extensive etiology ranging from multiple factors. Furthermore, symptoms of various aspects accompany SAD. Moreover, SAD has detrimental impacts affecting quality of life. Lastly, SAD has numerous methods of treatment. Social Phobia is prevalent in both women and men beginning at the onset of puberty (ADAA).

Social anxiety disorder results in a persistent feeling of fear during certain social situations. These feelings of fear get in the way of everyday life, and make it hard for those who have the disorder to properly interact within normal social situations (Social Anxiety, NIMH, 2018). Social anxiety varies

(Clark & Beck,2010) There is a “marked and persistent fear of social or performance situations in which embarrassment may occur” DSM-IV-TR; APA, 2000, p.450) Social Phobics seem unable to assess friendly facial expressions. (Ballenger,2009) They have an enhanced vigilance to angry faces relative to happy and neutral faces. (Mogg,2004) This affects interpersonal functioning. (Joorman, 2006)

     People who suffer from a social phobia will worry a lot about making a fool of themselves in front of other people, and will feel very anxious before going into any of the social situations that worry them. They may go through, in great detail, all the embarrassing things that could happen. When they are actually with people, they will feel even more anxious, and may be unable to say, or do, what is intended. In a way, it is a self-fulfilling prophecy. You worry so much about looking worried that you actually do look worried. People experiencing both of these types of social phobia have many of the same physical symptoms. You may get a very dry mouth, sweat a lot, and feel your heart racing. Other people may be able to see some of the signs of this anxiety, such as blushing, stammering, shaking and trembling. Sometimes you may breathe too fast, which can give you feelings of numbness or pins and needles in the fingers and toes. This can make the anxiety even worse.     These feelings of fear and bodily symptoms can end in a panic attack. This is a short period, usually lasting only a few minutes, during which people feel overwhelmingly anxious, terrified of losing control, and may feel

Fear is a normal and an important human reaction to something dangerous, it keeps one out of danger, because fear is disliked and one tries ones best to avoid the object or situation of fear. It causes physical changes known as fight-or-flight reaction, which causes blood pressure to increase and the heart rate to speed up to pump blood to the large muscles used to run away, to balance this the human body has sweat glands which produce perspiration to cool the body.