Panic Disorder And Social Anxiety

Social anxiety, also known as social phobia, is a feeling of fear and discomfort of being judged badly by other people. Anyone can experience this at work, school, special events, and even at doing everyday things. Many people have experienced a feeling like this and that is normal. But having a social anxiety disorder can have a huge affect in someone’s life style. The effects of having disorder can lead to bad results in life.

There are many adolescences that suffer from anxiety that interferes with them performing in the school setting, and often affects their behavior and grades. One of these anxiety disorders is social anxiety disorder, which is “characterized by significant discomfort and avoidance of social or performance situations” (Ryan & Warner, 2012, p. 105). Studies have found that “recent estimates indicate that 6% of children and 12.1% of adolescents meet criteria for this diagnosis” (Ryan & Warner, 2012, p. 105). Sara is a 13-year-old female suffering from anxiety symptoms. Sara attends middle school in Broward county and is a client in the COMPASS program at school. She has presented with symptoms of anxiety when in the school setting and in other social environments, resulting in her referral to the program for continuous skipping of classes and failing grades. Sara received individual counseling at school and now at the Boys & Girls club with the goal of reducing her social anxiety symptoms at school and in other social settings. The underlying question this researcher seeks to answer is what impact does Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) have on helping adolescents to decrease anxiety?

Social anxiety is “a fear of humiliation or of being judged by others, and an avoidance of social situations where attention centers on the individual” (Martis). According to the Social Anxiety Institute, social anxiety has become the third largest psychological disorder, following depression and alcoholism (Richards). Commonly, victims of this social phobia have problems pursuing social environments, interactions, and relationships (“Social Anxiety Disorder”). The failure to fulfill daily requirements in jobs, social settings, and relationships often leaves them feeling “powerless, alone, or even ashamed” (“Social Anxiety Disorder”). Today in America,“15 million [people] suffer[from] the disorder” (“Social Anxiety Disorder”). Of the 15 million American adults affected, women and men are equally prone to develop the phobia (“Social Phobia (Social Anxiety Disorder)”). Currently, the prevalence rate for acquiring social anxiety disorder is “13-14% of all Americans” and continues to rise (Richards). As the number of people affected by social anxiety continues to rise, the understanding of social anxiety’s causes, effects, and treatments is crucial.

Many changes happen in the body when a person becomes anxious. One of the first changes is that the individual experiences an increased breathing rate. Breathing rapidly throws off the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the body thereby, triggering additional physical anxiety symptoms such as dizziness, a feeling of suffocation, increased heart rate, and muscle tension. Learning to slow down breathing can help bring physical symptoms of anxiety back under control. In addition to

The cognitive behavioral therapy helps them to rationally think about situations when in panic mode and to effectively remain calm through their panic. In exposure therapy they are exposed to panic in a controlled environment where the patients can learn safe and healthy ways of coping. Medication therapy is important. Antidepressants are giving for long-term therapy and take a few weeks to start working, so that is when the benzodiazepines come in. They act quickly and are given to give rapid relief to symptoms during a panic

Benzodiazepines- Medications such as Klonopin, Ativan, Valium, and Xanax often bring quick relief from the symptoms of anxiety. They are generally used while waiting for other medications to begin working, as addiction and tolerance is possible.

The diagnosis of social phobia has seen substantial changes in the last 25 years, from its first appearance in the DSM-III published in 1980 to the DSM-IV. In DSM-III, phobic disorders and anxiety states were regarded as two types of anxiety disorders, and social phobia was considered a phobic disorder. What do you think of when you hear the words Social Anxiety? Is it a mental illness or is it just a phobia? While there are many feelings tied with social anxiety, social anxiety is a mental illness that people go through in their lives. From personally struggling with this I have always wanted to know what are the causes and how can I deal with this issue. I decided this would be a great topic to do my future research paper on. While researching information I came across a source I believe will help me write my paper. I found this source by using the Tacoma Community College library search. I then typed ‘Social Anxiety Disorders’and found the article “Social Anxiety Disorder: Questions for the DSM-V. The article ‘Social Anxiety Disorder: Questions for the DSM-V by Susan M. Bögels is a credible source based on the author’s educational background, other pieces of work from the author, and a distinguished publishing company.

Benzodiazepines are the most widely used medications for anxiety. Their onset is rapid, within 30-60 minutes. Benzodiazepines slow down the nervous system, (Benzodiezepines, n.d.), which cause the body to relax, sedate and produce a sense of euphoria. (Arcas, 2016). The duration of action varies with the different drugs. Some of the most common benzodiazepines are prescription drugs such as Valium®, Xanax®, Halcion®, Ativan®, and Klonopin®

Anxiety disorders come in several varieties. I will go over the most common ones here. These are social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, and panic disorder.

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illnesses in the U.S, affecting 18% of the adult population. Among that population, Social Phobia or Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is the second most common disorder, affecting 6.8% adults (ADAA, 2015). The onset of SAD generally happens around ages 13 up to 18, when people are more susceptible to the disorder. According to the American Psychological Association (2012), a Phobia is an anxiety disorder involving a persistent fear of an object, place or situation disproportional to the threat or danger posed by the object of the fear. Social Anxiety Disorder, can be defined as a marked, or intense, fear or anxiety of social situations in which the individual may be scrutinized by others. In the youth, fear and anxiety occurs in a peer setting. “Social anxiety disorder tends to follow a chronic and unremitting course associated with educational and social impairment among adolescents, which can increase the risk of suicide and substance abuse in adulthood” (Ingul, Aune, & Nordahl, 2013) with those risks in mind, it is vital to treat SAD early on before challenges of adulthood create greater issues. Previous studies have indicated that treatments such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Psychoanalysis are effective in the treatment of SAD. However, there is a lack of studies that show the long term effects of short term CBT treatments in, specifically later in adulthood. The purpose of this study is to compare the long term

Social anxiety disorder it’s an intense worry or fear of social situations that involve interactions with others. It is categorized as a Phobia a persistent and irrational fear of a specific object, situation, or activity. This leads to feelings of inadequacy, self-consciousness, and depression. The person suffering of social anxiety disorder may believe that all eyes are on them at all times, fear of being judge by others, and have a strong fear of embarrassing themselves. Social anxiety is the third largest mental health case issue in the world, and it can affect 10% of the population at any given time. Social Anxiety disorder usually begins in childhood or adolescence. Is more prevalent among women than men.

The diagnosis of social phobia requires the symptoms to be “consistent and persistent”, as well as causing significant distress which damage social, occupational, or other important areas of life functioning (Irena, 2015, p.). Unlike shyness, where most people occasionally experience in their lives, social phobia is much more disruptive and pathological (Jefferson, 2001). For people with social phobia, they could even feel the pain before an event that they know would involve evaluation actually happen (NIMH, 2013; Irena, 2015, p.).

Although, all anxiety disorders essentially overlap each other still they can be differentiated by examining closely the symptoms of anxiety, and situations which are feared, including the exploration of cognition.

The Social anxiety Association classifies social anxiety as the fear of interacting with other and social situations. Social anxiety causes fear and anxiety in most if not all aspects of ones lives. Social anxiety is the fear of being negatively judge or evaluated by others. It is a chronic disease that it does not go away on its own, only direct cognitive-behavioral therapy can help people overcome their social anxiety. There are a few situations that can trigger social anxiety such as being introduced to

Fear is a common emotion exhibited by people who stutter (PWS). The fear of negative evaluation is commonly displayed by PWS (Fjola, 1246); when this fear is significantly excessive, the PWS may meet the criteria for a clinical diagnosis of social anxiety (Brundage, Winters, & Beilby, p. 499). Social anxiety frequently causes PWS to isolate themselves from social interactions, and, when in situations, to utilize safety behaviors to prevent stuttering and reduce anxiety. Safety behaviors consequently maintain social anxiety in PWS rather than exacerbate the disorder (Lowe et al., 2017, pp. 1246-1247). More is known regarding the development of social anxiety is adults who stutter (AWS) than the information pertaining to children who stutter (CWS) and their fear of negative evaluation which results in social anxiety (Iverach, Menzies, O’Brian, Packman, & Onslow, 2011, p. 228). The difference in available information may be due to the thought that social anxiety is a short-term effect in CWS but a life-long effect in AWS (Iverach, Jones, McLellan, Lyneham, Menzies, Onslow, & Rapee, 2016, p. 15).