Social anxiety disorder, also known as social phobia, corresponds to the difficulty presented by the person in interacting socially, presenting a job in public or eating in front of other people, for example, for fear of being judged, feeling humiliated or other people notice your weaknesses.
Social anxiety can be quite disabling and interfere with professional performance and related to social contact, which can lead to the development of other psychological disorders, such as severe depression and agoraphobia, which is the fear of staying in open, closed places or staying inside. a crowd, for example.
The treatment of social anxiety disorder should be done by a psychologist or psychiatrist who can indicate, depending on the degree of the disorder, the use of anxiolytic drugs to reduce the symptoms of anxiety.
How To Identify Social Anxiety Disorder
Social anxiety disorder can be identified through characteristics presented by the person, such as:
- Difficulty interacting and talking with other people; Fear of speaking in public and on the phone; Fear of eating in front of others; Fear of giving your opinion on a certain subject; Fear of walking or working in front of other people.
People with social anxiety are very concerned with the evaluation of other people about themselves and usually avoid talking or performing certain actions for fear of what others will find and fear of feeling humiliated, which hinders their performance at work and in social relationships. For this reason, they tend to isolate themselves, being unaware of different situations.
When people who suffer from social anxiety disorder are or feel exposed to situations that require a little more interaction, for example, some symptoms appear, such as:
- Increased heart rate; Increased respiratory rate; Red face; Shaking; Voice shaking; Muscle tension; Nausea; Dizziness; Excessive sweating.
Symptoms of anxiety and nervousness are normal when they appear before or during a job interview or at a presentation. However, when symptoms appear in various situations, especially when you are close to other people, it can be a sign of social anxiety disorder, and the person should seek psychological treatment. Learn to recognize other symptoms of anxiety.
How the treatment is done
Treatment for social anxiety disorder is done mainly with therapy sessions. The treatment carried out by the psychologist or psychiatrist aims to help the person discover the reason why he is unable to interact or act naturally in front of other people and thus help him to overcome these barriers so that the person does not feel so concerned about other people's possible opinion.
Therapy is also important for the negative thoughts that normally arise in social anxiety to disappear, making the person see things without much concern, improving their quality of life.
In addition, depending on the degree of social anxiety presented by the person, the use of medications to reduce anxiety symptoms may be recommended, especially when the symptoms interfere with the person's quality of life. See which are the most suitable remedies for anxiety.
Possible causes
Social anxiety disorder is more common in early childhood or adolescence, however treatment is only sought when there is the development of another disorder, such as a learning disability, for example, which can make the treatment of this disorder a little more complicated.
This disorder can happen due to low self-esteem, overprotective parents, social rejection, fear of exposure or previous traumatic experiences. These situations make the person lose confidence in himself and doubt his ability to perform any task, not seeing his potential and, therefore, he is afraid that other people will notice that he is not capable.
