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Social Anxiety Research Paper

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Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is often mistaken for shyness. While the two can coexist, noticing the differences is essentially in terms of diagnosing whether an individual is suffering from a serious disorder or just shyness.
About 15 million adults in America have been diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorders ("Social Anxiety Disorder"). Social anxiety has been defined as a remarkable amount of fear, embarrassment, or humiliation a person feels when presented with social situations. Commonly, the person will purposely avoid the situation or face it with excessive amounts of agony ("Shyness... Or Social Anxiety Disorder?"). Studies have shown that social anxiety is linked with panic attacks. Not only will a person suffering from Social Anxiety Disorder feel anxious during social functions, but the bare thought will also cause anxiety. In addition, a person who suffers from social anxiety will struggle with negative thoughts, shame, and depression as a result of any perceived mistake ("What is the Difference Between Shyness and Social Anxiety?"). Fortunately, anti-anxiety medication can be prescribed through a physician (Doctor, Kahn, Adamec xvii). …show more content…

However, severe cases of shyness will result in similar behavior to those with social anxiety, including negative thoughts, blushing, sweating, a pounding heart, and even a stomachache when present in a social situation ("Shyness"). People who struggle with shyness have a hard time socializing with people and tend to hesitate speaking up when in a large group of people they are unfamiliar with. Shy people also tend to be more vulnerable than the average person. Similar to Social Anxiety Disorder, shyness can be overcome through various anxiety medications and therapy ("What is the Difference Between Shyness and Social

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