Social Phobia
Social phobia is a fear of being scrutinized, evaluated, or the center of attention. However, the real
underlying fear is of being evaluated negatively. People with social phobia commonly fear that
others will find fault with them or think that they are incompetent or strange. They may worry that
this will occur during social interaction with one or more other people, when they are doing
something under observation or even in situations where there is just the chance that they may
attract attention. Sometimes, this may involve just being with others.
The person with social phobia believes that being judged negatively may result from being seen to
be anxious (for example, blushing, sweating, trembling, or shaking), from saying or doing
something embarrassing, appearing awkward or making a mistake. Some also believe that there is
some aspect of their appearance or behavior that may attract criticism.
Feared situations include public speaking (including tutorials and presentations), parties, writing or
signing one's name under scrutiny, standing in a line, using the phone with others around, eating or
drinking in public, using public toilets, and public transportation. Some individuals fear that
embarrassing bodily functions will occur inappropriately, for example, losing control of bowel or
bladder, passing flatus, vomiting, stomach noises.
The main fears in social phobia may relate more to performance situations or more to social
interaction. There may be great anxiety about looking anxious or even having a panic attack in
these situations. The individual may believe that this anxiety will be obvious and will lead others to
evaluate them negatively. When social interaction is the main fear, the individual often worries
about having nothing to say, being boring, saying something inappropriate or being judged as
inadequate in some way. In any case, social situations are either endured with intense anxiety and
discomfort (during which, panic attacks may occur) or are avoided. Anxiety and avoidance may be
linked to only one situation, (circumscribed social phobia) but commonly occur in many situations
(generalized social phobia).
The fears in social phobia are excessive and unreasonable. While in the situation, feeling acutely
anxious and convinced that things are going badly, it may not seem that the fear is unreasonable.
However, most individuals with social phobia realize that their anxiety in social situations is much
greater than for those who do not suffer from the disorder. Thinking about things more calmly once out of the situation it is usually possible to accept that the anxiety triggered by the actual
circumstances was excessive.
How Does Social Phobia Differ from Shyness and Normal Social Anxiety?
Many people describe themselves as shy, although there is no clear definition of what this means!
Shyness with others, or increased self-consciousness, occurs in phases through childhood. It is
common in the teenage years as an individual starts to think about how others might see them. For
most people, this type of social anxiety decreases with age.
Some social situations continue to cause a degree of anxiety for most people. Good examples are
public speaking, or arriving alone at a social gathering of unfamiliar people. Normal social anxiety
is not disabling, it settles quickly during or after the event, and it does not begin weeks before the
event. There is no expectation of negative evaluation. Things are different for the person with
social phobia. They tend to start worrying a long way in advance, the discomfort may well get
worse as they stay in the situation, and next time they may be even more worried. Afterwards they
may go over and over aspects of their performance with which they were unhappy.
To overcome the Social Anxiety...... contact Mind Zone
Sunil Kumar jayasudha Kamaraj
Clinical Psychologist Counseling Psychologist
Founder Co-founder
MIND ZONE
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