Why Do We Have Social Anxiety?

The diagnosis of social phobia has seen substantial changes in the last 25 years, from its first appearance in the DSM-III published in 1980 to the DSM-IV. In DSM-III, phobic disorders and anxiety states were regarded as two types of anxiety disorders, and social phobia was considered a phobic disorder. What do you think of when you hear the words Social Anxiety? Is it a mental illness or is it just a phobia? While there are many feelings tied with social anxiety, social anxiety is a mental illness that people go through in their lives. From personally struggling with this I have always wanted to know what are the causes and how can I deal with this issue. I decided this would be a great topic to do my future research paper on. While researching information I came across a source I believe will help me write my paper. I found this source by using the Tacoma Community College library search. I then typed ‘Social Anxiety Disorders’and found the article “Social Anxiety Disorder: Questions for the DSM-V. The article ‘Social Anxiety Disorder: Questions for the DSM-V by Susan M. Bögels is a credible source based on the author’s educational background, other pieces of work from the author, and a distinguished publishing company.

There are three types of anxiety disorders, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and social anxiety disorder. Social anxiety is the most common type among teens. Symptoms include being very anxious around people, difficulty talking to people, feeling very self-conscious, afraid of people judging them, avoiding places with a lot of people, sweating or shaking around other people, and feeling sick in situations with a lot of people (Anxiety Disorders). Many people may social anxiety as just being shy, it is an actual fear of social situations. I personally think the statistics I have stated are very off. Teens don’t want other people to know that something is “wrong” with them since there is a huge stigma around mental illness. People with a mental illness are seen as crazy or just sad and not depressed. People act like it’s something you can just get over, but mental illness can have horrible effects not only on your mental health but physical health as well. Mental health is a very serious issue and it should not be seen as attention seeking, just being sad, or

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.

Anxiety is one of the most well-known disorders across the globe, but it comes in many different forms effecting numerous types of people. Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), also known as social phobia, is one of the main run-offs of anxiety that exists in the world today. It is absolutely normal to feel a little nervous or anxious before trying something new; however, Social Anxiety impels the individual diagnosed to feel distress and agitation in most, if not all, social situations that they partake in because they are afraid of the possible embarrassment that may come from it (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013).

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

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.

As a child growing up with social anxiety disorder, I know firsthand that it reduces the quality of life. I feel as if I have been wronged in life because of this disorder, it has robbed me of my potential happiness. Growing up was not easy, I constantly felt like I was being judged, I had a hard time making friends and an even harder time keeping them. Every day was an obstacle that I just wanted to avoid, I was even afraid to get on my school bus because I thought people would talk bad about me as I was making my way to a seat. My family didn’t even understand how much this was affecting me, they believed that my avoiding human contact was because I was depressed and wanted to put me in therapy. I became so jealous of people who had so much confident and would not even blink an eye when they were made to present in front of the class. This disorder got me in a lot of trouble in my first year of middle school, I became so afraid of the change and people that I was scared to attend class and I refused for 52 day to go. I was put on probation for truancy just because I was scared of people. Later when I attended high school, I thought it had gone away but I was wrong because it hit me harder than ever. Presentations were required and I panicked, each and every time I stood in front of the class. I would get shaky and I would start to stutter. Social anxiety gave me the title of being weird, apparently not talking makes you stand out even when

Anxiety disorder is a mental health disorder, which is characterized by feelings of fear or anxiety there are many types of anxiety one is such being social anxiety disorder also known as social phobia.

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a very real psychiatric disorder. People are often misinformed about SAD; they dismiss it as being shy. Even though social anxiety disorder and shyness have similar symptoms such as blushing and red face, sweating, and heart rate changes. Shyness can be overcome whereas social anxiety disorder is considers chronic because it has to be treated for it to go away. There are several different treatment options for SAD cognitive-behavioral therapy, exposure therapy, group therapy, and lastly medication. Medication will work, however it is not a permanent treatment. If left

To begin with, social anxiety is clearly shown in those who are addicted to the screen. Jeffery Green on NaturalBlaze.com states "By not developing the ability to interact with others face-to-face, future adult relationships for the children will be impeded. Employment, romance, friendships and simple social etiquette will be limited and awkward if a child never develops normal social skills." The statement is blunt and it deserves to be, social do affect our everyday lives, like "Employment, romance, friendships and simple social etiquette...". Without social skills life will be much more challenging, they cant get jobs as easily, they don't marry (a problem that is happening in Japan), and the lack of social etiquette will make them seem like "they are out of their minds".

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

This literature review is conducted to explore the social anxiety disorder, its Etiology, prevalence and finally putting focus on the need of a special treatment for adolescent with social anxiety disorder. Anxiety problems are the most common and widespread mental issues and are an area of interest for the medical as well as psychology researchers. These disorders are related to excess fear and anxiety and associated behavioural problems, where an

Nobody wants to feel invisible or have a constant fear they will embarrass themselves by simply speaking. In the world today, many people struggle with these exact worries on a day-to-day basis. Social anxiety has become one of the biggest mental disorders in the world. Quiet and alone, victims of social anxiety go unnoticed in our say anything society because they try to blend in and stay out of the spotlight. The fear of communicating among peers, which can consume a person, could push someone into complete isolation. Social anxiety describes the disorder that many, even doctors, write off as having shy, awkward, or introverted qualities when conversing with one or more people. Despite the lack of knowledge and awareness of the disorder,

Fear is a common emotion exhibited by people who stutter (PWS). The fear of negative evaluation is commonly displayed by PWS (Fjola, 1246); when this fear is significantly excessive, the PWS may meet the criteria for a clinical diagnosis of social anxiety (Brundage, Winters, & Beilby, p. 499). Social anxiety frequently causes PWS to isolate themselves from social interactions, and, when in situations, to utilize safety behaviors to prevent stuttering and reduce anxiety. Safety behaviors consequently maintain social anxiety in PWS rather than exacerbate the disorder (Lowe et al., 2017, pp. 1246-1247). More is known regarding the development of social anxiety is adults who stutter (AWS) than the information pertaining to children who stutter (CWS) and their fear of negative evaluation which results in social anxiety (Iverach, Menzies, O’Brian, Packman, & Onslow, 2011, p. 228). The difference in available information may be due to the thought that social anxiety is a short-term effect in CWS but a life-long effect in AWS (Iverach, Jones, McLellan, Lyneham, Menzies, Onslow, & Rapee, 2016, p. 15).

There are a wide range of fears and phobia that plague the populations of the world, most being specific to certain things or situations. Social anxiety is listed differently in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.), with criteria almost identical to those of social phobia with the exception that the fear be out of proportion in frequency and/or duration (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Its symptoms range from blushing and profuse sweating to heart palpitations and panic attacks. Social anxiety is one of the top psychological problems in the United States and still widely misunderstood despite the large number of people affected by it. Different levels of anxiety at different stages in a person’s life has led to the proposal of many theories, and the search for where social anxiety may begin to sprout in someone’s life. Adolescence and puberty have been targeted for study by psychologist as key periods in development.