Social Anxiety

Do you know what social anxiety is? You may have some clue, the name alone seems pretty self explanatory, right? What I bet you didn't know was that social anxiety/social phobia is the third largest psychological problem in the United States. It's true. According to socialphobia.org and this information that they have provided, social anxiety affects 15 million Americans and, almost 90% of the time, these Americans are misdiagnosed. It seems that health care professionals and us average Joe Schmoes without a PhD do not, on the whole, understand or know much about social anxiety.

The important thing to note is that there is a difference between social anxiety/social phobia and simply feeling nervous. It is perfectly normal to feel nervous in certain situations such as a first date or before an exam. In fact, this is an important part, I think, of being human. These "first date jitters" or the nervousness we get before a test help keep us on our toes. With social anxiety/social phobia, though, every day interactions with people can cause extreme self-consciousness and fear in a human being. Simple tasks like calling a business on the phone about an electric bill or even going to the grocery store can cause a person with social anxiety to panic. There are many symptoms of social anxiety, as found here on mayoclinic.com. Some of which include: fearing that others will notice you look anxious, anxiety that disrupts your daily work and life routines, avoiding situations where you may be the center of attention, as well as blushing, profuse sweating, nausea and confusion. Now these symptoms may seem like the normal feelings of just being nervous, right? We have all felt these feelings at some time or other but imagine, if you will, feeling these feelings before doing something completely normal that we do every day such as using a public restroom or even making eye contact with someone. This is social anxiety.

It can be crippling. It is part of our lives, and sometimes our jobs, to do things such as make small talk or interact with strangers. If you can imagine having such an intense fear of these situations that you avoid them at all costs then you can know, to an extent, what it's like to suffer from social anxiety. It can make a person feel less than adequate, to say the least.

The good news is that there are ways to live with social anxiety and still have a somewhat normal life. This helpguide.org website provides us with some techniques in reducing general anxiety (which can make dealing with social anxiety more manageable) and those include: avoiding caffeine, drinking in moderation and getting adequate sleep. There are other, more intensive, treatments for social anxiety which include therapy and medications. While these techniques do not serve as a cure for social anxiety/social phobia, they have been proven affective in the treatment and management of social anxiety/social phobia.

It is important that we understand social anxiety. Not only because it's effecting so many American people but because so many people who are misdiagnosed do not realize that they have social anxiety and that it is indeed a common problem. For support and to further research the topic, you can go here.