Social Anxiety Disorder ( F40.10 )

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

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 Phobia can also be addressed as Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD); the scientific name for this disorder is ‘Anthropophobia’, which according to Right Diagnosis (2014) means an irrational fear of people or groups of people. The National Health Service (2014) describes Anthropophobia or Social Phobia as a tenacious fear of social situations and people; furthermore, the NHS credits Social Phobia to be the most common anxiety disorder. According to the International Classification of Diseases 2010 (ICD-10), symptoms of this disorder have been known to manifest themselves as blushing, hand tremors, nausea and the frequent urgency of micturition. These symptoms appear when the sufferer is faced with situations where social interactions may arise. Other symptoms may include palpations, dizziness, panic attacks, diarrhoea, muscle tension, excessive sweating, shaking, poor social skills, low self-esteem and high sensitivity to criticism. Due to the nature of the symptoms that accompany Social Phobia,

“The last disorder is Social Anxiety which is said to be an intense fear of any social situations which would lead it to be difficult with individual relationships at their workplace or in school situations. These are most common in people who suffer with social anxiety disorders. People often have an irrational fear of being humiliated in public. Many people have this fear and do not realize that this is a disorder that affect people of all age groups. People with anxiety disorders usually abuse alcohol and other drugs. (https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders/index.shtml).”

What is social anxiety, how is it different from shyness? And, are we a society of anxiety? Social anxiety disorder is defined by the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, as “excessive fear in a social situation in which the person believes he or she will do something embarrassing or have anxiety symptoms, that will be humiliating” These feared situations can vary from interpersonal social interactions in small groups to talking to strangers and performance fears.

Many children are shy and do not speak in the public. However, sometimes parents do not notice when his/her child’s behavior is more than just being shy. If a child is avoiding social interaction or staying in a quiet place to escape embarrassment, they might be experiencing Social Anxiety Disorder. Other symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder are sweating, has a racing heart, has shortness of breath, or being scared of other people that may be thinking about you being nervous then that child might be experiencing Social Anxiety Disorder. Social Anxiety Disorder, also known as Social Phobia, is a disorder that people generally experience when in public. It is a fear of being judged and interacting with other people. A child who is being shy will speak up in front of the people within the short amount of the time. However, a child with Social Anxiety Disorder will take longer than a child that are shy. When children with Social Anxiety Disorder do not receive treatment or support, the child’s disorder can lead them into a challenge with a great effort. Parents who are uncomfortable in a social situation can show some effectiveness to their child. The signals for Social Anxiety Disorder can appear in a situation like a birthday party, a graduation, or any big major life event that requires. The society needs to have an awareness with this disability because this disorder will relapse, less treatment during the childhood can build up more worse during their adulthood,

Birmaher previous findings were very similar to the findings in this article; the only difference was adding three questions to the checklist to separate the diagnosis of social phobia. The first research study had thirty-eight

Social Anxiety Disorder is the fear of interaction, that leads to feelings of being negatively judged,evaluated, embarrassment, humiliation, and depression this normally leads to avoidance. Social Anxiety Disorder is a disorder that doesn't discriminate, age, race, or gender. Finding and maintaining a friendship when it when it comes to someone with social anxiety disorder is a challenge in its own. Not only does the person with the disorder have a fear of social interaction, but they also feel they are constantly being judged by the person they are in a friendship with. They are constantly thinking about the words that come out of their mouth because they are afraid of potentially being made fun of, humiliated or put down. The person knows

The current diagnostic criteria for social anxiety disorder can be found in the DSM-5. The criteria are split into ten different diagnostic features (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The first diagnostic feature is one or more situations where fear or anxiety occurs due to possible negative evaluation received from others (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The second feature is the fear is of negative evaluation such as humiliation (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The third feature is that social settings continually cause this anxiety or fear (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The fourth feature is the avoidance of social settings or large amounts of anxiety or fear when experiencing social settings (American

I would like to write my research paper on the causes and effects of social anxiety disorder (SAD) and panic disorder. The reason that I would like to write about this topic in particular is to share some of my personal experiences with these disorders because they have made a huge impact upon my life and the life of my siblings, and I would like to research the topic and maybe gain some insight myself as to what causes them to occur and what effects they have on the brain and the body and why they basically always go hand in hand.

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).

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.

Social Anxiety Disorder is also a category of the anxiety disorders. An individual diagnosed with social anxiety disorder avoids public interactions for fear of embarrassment. They are so overwhelmed with fear of possible embarrassment through saying or doing the wrong thing, that they begin displaying physical symptoms such as sweating and shaking. The attack itself is embarrassing for them, so they develop patterns which they believe will prevent an attack. This mainly includes the avoidance of any social interactions.

Social anxiety disorder (social phobia) can be described as an extreme, persistent fear of being scrutinized or judged by others in social situations. This fear may lead to feelings of embarrassment, humiliation and self-consciousness. People who suffer from this condition may “feel powerless against their anxiety” (ADAA). These emotions often interfere with daily activities, such as school, work and personal relationships. The person might begin to withdraw socially or avoid situations in which he or she is afraid. Millions of Americans endure this devastating condition every day of their lives. There are several causes, symptoms and treatments.