Social Anxiety Disorders In Adolescents

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.

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 the third largest mental problem in the world. Social anxiety is fear of interaction with other people, being judged, embarrassment, humiliation or depression. In the United sates about 40 million Americans have this Disorder. Social anxiety can be caused by biological, psychological and environmental factors; these factors can be effectively identified and treated.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5, American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013), describes social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a disorder that is expressed by a constant fear of receiving negative evaluation by others within a social situation. A social situation is one that can be defined as a scenario where the individual believes there is an audience present (Heimberg, Brozovich, & Rapee, 2014) and is often the beginning of the disorder. Many years of research have been undergone to establish models that describe the etiology of SAD, however, the Cognitive Behavioural Model is the most well known and most referred to. As this model is extensive, this essay will not have the capacity to encompass all aspect of

The purpose of this paper is to discuss a better way to assist people who suffer from social anxiety disorder. I will propose a better way I will treat those who suffer with social anxiety disorder. I will explain some realistic actions I will take to help move my proposals in a positive direction. Further, I will discuss the steps I will take to avoid being a “pawn” in the current system. Lastly, I will demonstrate how I am going to really help my clients that are suffering with social anxiety disorder without jeopardizing my career.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) became a popular intervention for anxiety problems following research and studies on anxiety and various mental health therapeutic interventions in the 1980’s and 1990’s. CBT ,as a term became, well known, but exactly is involved in cognitive-behavioral therapy was much less understood despite numerous studies indicating it as the most effective intervention for depression, anxiety, and other mental health disorders (Abramowitz, 2012).

Social anxiety is a debilitating disorder that often leads to significant social impairment, but impairment can transfer over to other domains of a person’s life (Ranta et al., 2007). That is, social anxiety to can lead to being socially incompetent and this can affect a persons work, education, and quality of relationships as well. Adolescents are especially susceptible to social anxiety because it is a developmental time when peer evaluation and social acceptance is very important; putting too much

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, social anxiety is a mental disorder with a lifetime prevalence of 12%. It is characterized by a persistent, intense and chronic fear of being scrutinized by others when engaging in, as well as a fear of, social interactions. In this form of anxiety, individuals are afraid of saying or doing something that will embarrass or humiliate them and have unrealistic appraisals of the negative consequences of social encounters. There are many factors that contribute to social anxiety such as sexual abuse, family conflict, or a natural tendency for a child to be shy or withdrawn. The cognitive behavioral model explains how this disorder is maintained after developing. Individuals do not have to

Social anxiety disorder also known as social phobia is an anxiety disorder. It is one of the most common psychiatric disorders, with 12% of American adults have experienced in their lifetime. This specific anxiety has intense nervousness and self- consciousness arises from a being closely observed, judged, or criticized by others. A person with social anxiety disorder fear of making mistakes or looking bad because that would make them feel embarrassed or humiliated in front of others. People with social anxiety disorder may be afraid of specific situation such as speaking in public, eating or drinking in front of others, writing or working in front of others, being center of attention, interacting with people, asking questions, and using public

When people hear the word mental disorder most times their minds are turned towards people who are different or they automatically think of somebody pretending something is wrong. The term social anxiety is overlooked and seen as just severe shyness. The people that view it this way are heartless people who view mental health illnesses as diseases that are made up and shouldn’t even exist. However mental illnesses do exist and they should not be overlooked. Similar to diabetes, Social Anxiety Disorder is a disease that is very significant and plays a huge role in someone's health, but can often be overlooked. Nonetheless just because something isn’t seen doesn’t mean that it isn’t there. Social Anxiety Disorder is a mental illnesses and it needs to be recognized that Social Anxiety Disorder isn't just extreme shyness.

Social anxiety disorder is a mental disorder that many people struggle with each and every day. Social anxiety disorder, according to The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, is defined and categorized as “a marked and persistent fear of one or more social/performance situations” (Vanin, Helsey &Morgan,2008). It is the fear of being, or interacting, in social situations, which bring on feelings of self-consciousness and judgement from others. Social anxiety disorder, and many other anxiety disorders for that matter, go undetected, and therefore, unresolved. This leads to many people struggling with it their whole lives, which, in turn, causes problems when trying to achieve goals and being successful.

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

About 12.1 percent of the general population has social anxiety (SAD) disorder during their lives (Kessler, Berglund, et al., 2005). SAD is the second most common form of anxiety disorder and affects 35 million people in the United States alone (Hofmann et al., 2009, Magee et al., 1996). People diagnosed with SAD have a lower quality of life, higher chance of substance abuse and greater risk of suicide (Baldwin and Buis 2004). The best and most common form of treatment for SAD is cognitive-behavioral therapy (Stangier, Schramm, Heidenreich, Berger, & Clark, 2011).[b1] Social anxiety disorder is defined as an “extreme, enduring, irrational fear and avoidance of social or performance situations.” [b1] Some of the symptoms of social anxiety disorder are fear that an individual will show anxiousness in social scenarios, an immense amount of fear that causes clinical impairment or social distress and symptoms have lasted for at least 6 months. [b2] Cognitive therapy is defined as a “group of treatment procedures aimed at identifying and modifying faulty thought processes, attitudes and attributions and problem behaviors.[b3] ” Clark and colleagues [b4] (2006) reviewed a cognitive therapy program that had real-world social scenarios included in the study. Their reasoning for doing this was to challenge patients’ negative self-concepts and thoughts in social scenarios. This style of program benefited 84% of individuals who participated[b5] . [b6] The three articles discussed in

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).

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