Causes, Symptoms And Treatment Of Social Phobia Or Social Anxiety

Social phobia is a fear-based condition that is experienced by many but understood by a few people. Although a huge percentage of people around the world are known to suffer from this, it remains. It’s so unknown in fact that even patients of social phobia do not know whether it exists or not.

What is social phobia?

Most people normally experience some form of shyness and anxiety over situations and activities that are beyond the scope of their day-to-day experience. Most people can manage to get over these situations. But, for a small percentage of people, fear, shyness and anxiety that result from such situations and events can sometimes be so overwhelming that they go through lengths to avoid them.

Social phobia or social anxiety is a fear-based condition that involves intense fear or anxiety over social situations, particularly social situations that could potentially expose the person to being critiqued or evaluated by others. This fear is usually so intense that people suffering from social anxiety often get overly anxious even by just thinking of their fears and this fear remains long after the situation is over. In short, they become preoccupied with thoughts about the situation.

Thing is, most patients are aware that their fears are somewhat overblown and are irrational. Nevertheless, they can’t help becoming overwhelmed by their anxieties.

What Provokes Social Anxiety

Underlying social anxiety is the fear that the patient will suffer emabrassment, scrutiny and judgment in public. Thus, the following situations can readily provoke the symptoms of social anxiety to appear:

- Meeting or being with new people

- Talking with figures of importance

- Being the center of attention

- Being watched by others while doing something (eating, drinking or working in public)

- Being criticized or teased

- Taking examinations

- Performing on stage

- Engaging in a small talk

- Talking to someone on the phone

- Public speaking or speaking to a group

- Attending social gatherings or parties

Signs and Symptoms of Social Phobia

There are two categories of the symptoms of social phobia.

Psychological

- Worrying for a long period of time in anticipation of an upcoming event.

- Extreme fear of being watched by other people.

- Self-consciousness level that is beyond that which is experienced by a normal person.

- Fear of behaving in a way that could be embarrassing.

- Running away from social situations to avoid exposure to possible embarrassment.

Physical

There are many physical symptoms of social anxiety as well including shaky voice, excessive sweating, muscle twitching, pounding heart, tight chest, dizziness, clammy hands, hot flashes, nausea and upset stomach.

Treatment Options

While it may seem like social phobia isn’t something that can’t be treated, there are actually a number of strategies that can be used to lessen the severity as well as the frequency of its attack. From self-help techniques to psychological tools and medications, there are plenty of choices that can help normalize the feelings of fear, anxiety and nervousness over typical situations where the symptoms typically occur.

Some effective lifestyle modifications include avoiding or limiting the intake of caffeine and alcohol, withdrawal from smoking, and getting adequate sleep. Drugs that could help with the symptoms of social phobia include antidepressants, benzodiazepines, and beta-blockers. Psychological tools that have helped remarkably with the symptoms of the condition include Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), exposure therapy and group therapy.