Esther Y. Strahan's Two-Year Study

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health illness in children. These disorders can drastically interfere with social life, academic performance, and development of social skills (Mazzone, Ducci, Scoto, Passaniti, Arrigo, & Vitiello, 2007). Mychailyzyn, Mendez, and Kendall (2010) also studied the school performance of children with and without anxiety and saw how they differed. The teachers would rate their students’ classroom behavior; this report showed comparison of anxiety at home and in school. Like many other studies found, Mychailyzyn et al. (2010) concluded that children struggling with anxiety did have higher risks of struggling in a school

The study of Social anxiety shows no clear causes for its variety of symptoms, but psychologists have been able to determined triggers and possible factors for its development. As psychologists continue to study social phobia, they have determined many possible causes. Since the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, psychologists have

College represents a form of higher learning. For many, it is also a time for personal growth as we transition into adulthood. This in itself is a stressful situation as one must make drastic adjustments to a new role, environment, and demands. Stress is a major contributor to the development of mental and emotional issues (Rodgers, L., Tennison, L. 2009). Research has been done to determine the impact of depression and anxiety on university students. It has been

What problem(s) did the researchers study and why? In this study, researchers consider the potential of three separate interventions intended to reduce pathological academic worry. Academic stress in college students is linked to anxiety and depression, as well as generalized anxiety disorder. The self-administered treatments of worry exposure, expressive writing, and pulsed audio-photic stimulation studied to determine their effects on pathological academic worry.

In the article, “High Anxiety”, the author, Sandra Long Weaver, analyzes the recent spike in anxiety and depression among college students. Weaver explains that the main problem students are facing when they enter college is anxiety and from that they suffer from depression. She explains that young adults are more aware of life events that affect them such as the job prospect. She explains how increased academic standards and parent involvement contributes to the immense rise of these disorders among college students In a student survey she states that over 50% of students suffer from anxiety because of the academic struggles.

Social anxiety disorder (SAD), also know as social phobia, affects between 1.6% and 4.0% of children. Like other anxiety disorders, girls are more likely to be diagnosed with SAD than boys (Chavira & Stein, 2002). The defining features of SAD are excessive self-consciousness that is more than just common shyness. Individuals with SAD fear social or performance situations where they may face scrutiny or humiliation. The two subtypes of SAD are generalized and non-generalized. Approximately 75% of individuals with SAD experience the generalized type, which is characterized by experiencing distress in almost all social situations. Non-generalized SAD is characterized by experiencing anxiety in only one or two types of interpersonal situations, like public speaking. Generalized social anxiety disorder has high comorbidity with major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, specific phobias, and ADHD. Non-generalized SAD however has low comorbidity with other disorders. Children with selective mutism have a significantly high comorbidity rate with SAD, about 97% to 100% (Chavira & Stein, 2005).

Social anxiety is more common in our society than we would like to believe. Most forms of anxiety are relatively normal and can sometimes be a good thing to have. “Normal anxiety” is relatively universal in the sense that everyone feels anxious or worried at one point in time. In fact it is those unpleasant feelings that can motivate a person to get something done and be productive. In this case, a college student who is experiencing stress or worry can focus all of that energy into their assignments so that the feelings never return. However, when anxiety begins to impede on our daily activities that is when this kind of social anxiety gets classified as a disorder. Someone who is

Due to the limitations of the essay, only the behavioural symptoms will be discussed as it believed that they are a core reason for the maintenance of SAD. Safety behaviours, which are behavioural symptoms, are described as behaviours that are performed in order to prevent or avoid the negative perceived outcome and they can include avoiding eye contact in order to avoid interactions, standing on the perimeter of the crowd, or minimizing participation in a conversation by attending to one’s phone (Heimberg, Brozovich, & Rapee, 2014). In a study conducted by Mcmanus, Sacadura, & Clark, (2008), individuals were tested for their use of safety behaviours and seeing if they were helpful improving social performance in two experiments. In the first experiment, the participants were required to fill out questionnaires that were related to their uses of safety behaviours and upon completion, were required to complete an semi-structured interview with standardized questions. The second experiment required them to have 5-minute conversations with a stranger but each time, they were to alter their use of safety behaviours. The results of the first experiment concluded that both high and low socially anxious individuals believed that their safety behaviours reduced their anxiety,

To address this phenomenon, researchers have proposed different theories of test anxiety to account for the effects of test anxiety on the deficits of academic performance. According to scholars such as Schmidt and Riniolo (1999), the cognitive aspects of test anxiety - worry and task-relevant thinking - are also present in social anxiety. Therefore, students who experience test anxiety may also suffer from other types of psychological and cognitive problems such as self-esteem, cognitive development, social skills and memory. Essentially, the students who suffer from test anxiety are individuals who are unable to cope with any types of stress. Considering the stressful nature of

Generalized anxiety is a problem that the United States faces nationwide. As we grow older and move into educational settings that are more taxing, anxiety becomes more prevalent. Today, college students are facing more stress than ever before. They are constantly pushed to be the best they can be, to be in the most extracurricular activities they can be in, and to attend the best schools possible. All of these goals and high expectations lead students to be harder on themselves, which makes other aspects of their life fall by the wayside, leading to high levels of stress and pressure.

Such believes can be harmful to these students, and thus cause more severe aversion symptoms. My research is restricted to social anxiety in university student and its effect on academic level. It explains the consequences and different outlooks of social anxiety which occur due to different social situations.

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).

Anxiety and Depression disorders are two of the most common mental disorders in the United States (Falsafi, 2016). It appears that the two disorders are widespread amongst college students and most cannot manage the high demands and stress (Falsafi, 2016). Therefore, they feel more prone to depression and anxiety (Falsafi, 2016). According to the authors Miller & Chung, mental health amongst college students in the United States is a growing public health concern and educators are concerned about the low academic performance of college students and how it influences their mental health (Miller, & Chung, 2009). Research indicates that university students suffer with low grades and poor academic performances, while trying to manage depression and anxiety (Falsafi, 2016). With the consistence of higher drop out rates, it is imperative that colleges and universities create programs that assist students with managing their depression and anxiety to help them through their education.

Many students pay less attention to various aspects of their physical and social life during university because of the academic pressure they go through. Eventually this builds up and leads to a lot of thinking and mental anxiety for the student which in return can affect their academic performance.

Among all anxiety problems, social anxiety disorder is most common anxiety issue and third most common problem in all mental complications (American Psychiatric Association, 2000; Hofmann & Bogels, 2006). SAD is a mental disorder which has a tendency to become chronic and badly disturbs normal functions of life if not diagnosed and treated in time (Beesdo-Baum, et al., 2012; Garcia-Lopez, Piqueras, Diaz-Castela, & Ingles, 2008). It is also among the most prevailing mental disorders and is described in Criterion A of DSM-V as “Marked fear or anxiety about one or more social situations in which the individual is exposed to possible scrutiny by others. Examples include social interactions (e.g., having a conversation, meeting unfamiliar people), being observed (e.g., eating or drinking), and performing in front of others (e.g., giving a speech)” (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). A specific amount of anxiety is always anticipated socially and helps an individual managing future threats (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). But having social anxiety means that anxiety is too much for normal functioning during social situations and often interferes with