Social phobia social anxiety disorder is a state of extreme anxiety that a person feels in various social environments. The person becomes anxious and shows avoidance behavior with the thought that he/she may make a mistake at any time, that he/she may use the wrong word, that people may humiliate me, that he/she will be embarrassed.
For example, the person avoids making a presentation thinking that he/she cannot make a presentation when he/she should make it, or that he/she will be embarrassed, or does not enter a social environment or participate in a social environment. He behaves like he hides even if he enters, and does not communicate with anyone.
Are social phobia and shyness the same?
The hesitation we feel in social environments and the excitement we experience before speaking are very natural. It is an emotion. Social phobia is a psychiatric disorder. The difference is that social phobia affects the person's life negatively, reduces the quality of life, and causes the person to withdraw from the social environment.
In shyness, the person can enter an environment and talk to someone, even if it is difficult, while in social phobia, he usually tries not to make eye contact with anyone in the environment. There is various excuses for not entering the environment and generally avoidance behavior. In other words, social phobia affects our lives much more than shyness.
What are the symptoms of social phobia?
In social phobia, social anxiety disorder, the person experiences physical symptoms when faced with a situation that worries them. These are often symptoms such as;
"sweating, flushing, dryness in the mouth, feeling unable to speak or make a sound, palpitations, feeling of breathlessness, tremors, nausea" p>While these physical symptoms occur, the person's mind says; Thoughts such as "I shouldn't be excited" pass.
After these disturbing thoughts, avoidance symptoms occur. Avoidance symptoms may include not entering the environment where anxiety is felt, leaving the environment, not wanting to make eye contact, trying to avoid anxiety by thinking irrelevantly.
Physical symptoms of social phobia;
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Face redness
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Sweating
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Dryness in the mouth
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Heart palpitations,
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Breathlessness, shortness of breath
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Stomach and intestinal problems
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Trembling in hands, feet and body
Psychological symptoms of social phobia;
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Thought that I will be embarrassed
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Feeling of powerlessness and inadequacy,
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The thought of not being liked
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The thought that I should not make mistakes and the effort to be perfect
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Anxiety is evident. The thought that I shouldn't do anything and therefore being constantly anxious
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The effort to be perfect, basically the feeling of worthlessness
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The desire to be liked by everyone
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Escape from the environment he/she is afraid of
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Not being able to make eye contact with people and avoiding it
What are the Causes of Social Phobia?
When examining the causes of a disorder, research has shown that there are usually many reasons. We can consider these as biological, social and psychological reasons.
1. While shy parents may cause a person to be genetically prone to social phobia, it may also cause a person to learn shy behavior and not being comfortable in social environments through modeling.
For example, the mother's perception of social environments as threatening, the father's avoidance of social environments, and the family's perception of social environments as humiliating environments may cause the child to escape from these environments, feel uneasy, and learn that the environment is dangerous. .
2. Social phobia or social anxiety disorder can sometimes be learned after a traumatic event. For example, a student may have been made fun of by his friends or been subjected to a harsh warning or insult by his teacher because he made a mistake while teaching in class. The student thought that he was disgraced in this situation, felt ashamed and helpless for a long time and showed physical symptoms. After this incident, the student will remember lecturing in class, making presentations, and answering questions, along with the thought that it will be embarrassing. In this situation Physical symptoms will appear and the thought of being embarrassed will cause more discomfort. In order to get out of this situation, he will mostly resort to avoidance behavior and making a presentation will always be registered as a danger in his mind.
3. The way families raise children is also an important reason for the disorder. Overly protective family attitudes may prevent the child from developing the ability to cope with anxiety. A child who cannot cope with anxiety may have difficulty expressing himself in social environments. The family may need protection and may perceive social environments as dangerous.
In addition, parents who do not show enough love to the child and lack emotional warmth harm the development of the child's sense of trust. A child who is criticized when he makes a mistake within the family may be afraid of making mistakes in social environments for fear of being criticized. The fact that the family has perfectionist and high expectations and punishes the child for failure may cause the child to develop a fear of failure. Fear of failure can cause one of the subtypes of social anxiety, which we call performance anxiety.
How is Social Phobia Treated?
Social phobia is treated like all other anxiety disorders.
For example, the question "How anxious is it for you to go to a cafe alone and place an order and how much do you avoid this situation?" allows us to understand the client's thoughts and re-evaluate those thoughts. It is noticed that these thoughts continue the discomfort further. While the dimension of thought is examined with cognitive interventions, studies are also carried out to confront the environments of concern with behavioral methods. In behavioral therapy, modeling, role playing, exposure, imagination work and relaxation techniques are applied as needed.
As a result, we must know and accept that social phobia is a disorder.
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