Social Anxiety Research Paper

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.

Numerous researches have done on psychological disorders, Social Anxiety Disorder, as one of the most common disorders has been studied and analyzed for plenty of decades. Social Anxiety Disorder is defined as “excessive anxiety on exposure to potential scrutiny or evaluation by others” (Joy Albuquerque MD, FRCP; and Dorian Deshauer MD, FRCP,2002, p.87). It is considered part of the Axis of Anxiety Disorder and is also known as “Social Phobia”. Furthermore, it has been found in studies that Social Anxiety Disorder is the third most common psychiatric illness right after Alcohol Dependence and Depression

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).

No one wants to feel invisible or have a constant fear they will embarrass themselves just simply by speaking. In the United States today, even with our say-anything society, many people struggle with these exact worries on a day-today basis. Social anxiety is a disorder that many, even doctors, write off as having shy or introverted qualities. Despite the lack of knowledge and awareness for the disorder, social anxiety is a growing problem in our country and around the world.

In simple terms, social anxiety is a disorder that dramatically influences people's daily lives and their relationship with society [10]. In addition to this, social phobia leads people to experience excessive stress and deep fears intensively in a social situation [10]. It should be noted that social anxiety disorder manifests itself with various symptoms that can be listed such as blushing, sweating, trembling, tachycardia, nausea, stuttering, cluttering and more [11,12].

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.

Social anxiety disorder is the extreme fear of being scrutinized and judged by others in a social or performance situation. Social anxiety can be devastating to those who suffer from it, this disorder is not just simply extreme shyness this is an actual disorder. (AADA, 2015)

The difference between social anxiety disorder and other disorders is that a person is capable of enjoying themselves. This is because they are not impacted as severely physically since their fear is only stimulated in the event that they will have to be

Social anxiety, the fear of being in social situations, is difficult and frustrating to overcome. For the 15 million Americans who deal with social anxiety, there are apps and online help available. Here are some ways to conquer your fears to improve your social life and relationships.

Social anxiety disorder (SAD), also known as social phobia, is the most common mental illness in the United States. About 40 million people suffer from this mental disorder. Many tend to confuse this disorder with shyness and nervousness, which are not considered a part of the phobia. Having a SAD can interfere with one’s daily life cycle. People who have SAD often starts to develop this illness during their childhood and adolescence years. Patients are affected with this mental illness for many years before being diagnosed. Past experiences in a person 's childhood can form and shape their lives so that they may end up having social anxiety disorder. Some past experiences like bullying, depression and low self esteem can lead to the fear of socially interacting or communicating with other people.

Social anxiety, the fear of being in social situations, is difficult and frustrating to overcome. For the 15 million Americans who deal with social anxiety, there are apps and online help available.Here are five tools and techniques people with social anxiety can use:

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).

     Social anxiety is the fear of social situations and the interaction with other people that can automatically bring on feelings of self-consciousness, judgement, evaluation, and inferiority. Put differently social anxiety is the fear and anxiety of being judged and evaluated negatively by other people, leading to feelings of inadequacy, embarrassment, humiliation, and depression. If a person usually becomes anxious in social situations, but seems fine when they are by them selves, then social anxiety may be the problem.

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

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.