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Social Anxiety Disorder
from: Conquer Anxiety and Depressionis an anxiety disorder where a person has a strong fear of many social situations. Also referred to as social phobia, social anxiety comes from the fear of being "on display" for others to watch, judge or criticize us. When a person has a social anxiety disorder, they are afraid they will say or do something wrong and be humiliated or embarrassed by those around us. Because of this fear, the person is in extreme distress when they have to be in social situations, or they try to avoid social situations altogether.
In some severe cases, the person begins to dread the situation weeks or days before it even happens. This fear is known as "anticipator anxiety" and although the person may realize the fear in unreasonable, they cannot control themselves.
People that suffer from social anxiety disorder may be afraid of speaking in public or performing in front of others. Other situations may bring out anxiety such as working or writing in front of others, eating or drinking in front of others, being the center of attention, going parties or social gatherings with others, asking questions, speaking in groups and talking on the telephone. A person with social anxiety disorder may have just a few of those symptoms or all of them.
Without proper therapy or treatment, social anxiety disorder can affect the person's normal daily life, whether it's school, work, social life or relationships with others.
Social anxiety disorder is a very common disorder with over 19 million Americans being affected. It is the most common anxiety disorder. The ratio of men and women that get social anxiety disorder is about even. Social anxiety disorder may show up in adolescence, in adulthood or even in childhood. A child that is beginning to suffer from social anxiety disorder may hide behind their parents or refuse to talk to others outside of their immediate family. There isn't a very high rate of diagnosis for this disorder because even doctors sometimes have a difficult time determining between normal shyness and social anxiety disorder.
There is treatment for social anxiety disorder including therapy and treatment. However, many fail to seek treatment because of the very symptoms they possess causing the disorder: shyness, embarrassment or fear of speaking with others. Some of the physical symptoms that may arise are palpitations, sweating, nausea, anxiety, and confusion, blushing or shaking.
Different reasons may cause social anxiety disorder with one of them being genetics. Often children of parents with social anxiety disorder often develop the disorder themselves. The same is true of children that are pampered and over sheltered as young children. Another possible cause of social anxiety disorder is if something embarrassing happens at one time in our lives.
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