- SOCIAL PHOBIIA IN ADOLESCENTS
Social phobia, as a mental illness, is defined as "the individual's fear of encountering social situations that he/she is not used to or where his/her own behavior may be criticized or It is the extreme fear of being in situations where he may be humiliated and therefore he avoids such situations. The social phobic individual is extremely afraid of anxiety (anxiety) symptoms appearing when he encounters social situations and of these symptoms being noticed by others, and therefore of being humiliated or humiliated. He tries to avoid these situations as much as he can, and when he cannot avoid them, he experiences extreme distress and anxiety. He gradually restricts his life with the fear of falling into these situations and tends to stay away from social interactions.
Social phobia is a psychological problem that often begins in adolescence. It is known that social phobic adolescents have been anxious, timid and shy since childhood, that they have other fears in addition to social fears, and that their stiffness is a problem that begins in childhood. When children with these characteristics enter adolescence, they begin to experience great difficulties within their friend groups. During adolescence, self-care has increased in all children, whether socially phobic or not.
They are more aware of themselves and think that all eyes around them are on them. If the adolescent has been an insecure and anxious person since childhood, then he is extremely afraid of criticism and begins to think that everyone's eyes are on him and that he is watching and criticizing him. He becomes anxious, stiff, and does not know where to put his hands and feet. Realizing this situation makes him even more nervous. To avoid this situation, you start to stay away from social environments. s. If an adolescent with such characteristics is faced with the ridicule and laughter of his friends in a social environment or, for example, when he gets up to study in class, social phobic characteristics become evident and the adolescent avoids all situations where he feels in a difficult situation or where he feels that all eyes are on him. Thus, social phobia becomes evident.
Social phobic adolescents generally have insufficient social skills and low self-confidence. School success is low because of exam anxiety, or because they avoid situations where they need to show their performance, such as taking an oral exam or making a presentation. They do not participate in the lessons or speak in class. Socially phobic adolescents often feel extremely uncomfortable about making mistakes, stuttering, turning red in their faces, trembling in their voices, that is, their excitement being visible from the outside, when they get up for class, and they exaggerate these symptoms.
Even if the symptoms of excitement are barely noticeable from the environment. They fear that their situation will be noticed by everyone and that they will be made fun of. Fear makes them more anxious, more agitated, and more and more avoidant. When such fears become excessive, they cause some adolescents to miss school. . The adolescent constantly thinks about possible humiliation situations, exaggerates them, and interprets every behavior of his friends as mocking or humiliating him. This transformation of social phobia into school phobia and the adolescent's complete disengagement from school is the most important reason for school refusal in the middle and high school period.
However, not all shy and timid adolescents should be defined as socially phobic. Some teenagers are shy in their relationships However, they gradually become more comfortable and warm up to their friends. They show no signs of avoidance, but they are not assertive. They only maintain friendships with people they trust. Although they are extremely afraid of making mistakes, this group of adolescents can gradually gain confidence and the ability to assert themselves. This progress is not seen in socially phobic adolescents; on the contrary, they tend to isolate themselves more and more. Their fears do not decrease, they increase and prevent them from managing their lives; It begins to completely prevent them from improving themselves. Depression occurs when social phobia isolates the adolescent and makes him unable to use his skills. Depression is one of the most important complications of social phobia. Another complication of social phobia is alcohol addiction. Because some socially phobic adolescents realize that alcohol relaxes them in social environments, and they begin to drink increasingly higher doses of alcohol to eliminate the symptoms of anxiety in such environments. Thus, with the addition of depression and alcohol addiction, social phobia becomes a problem that severely disrupts the life and development of the young person.
Adolescence is the period when peer relationships gain great importance, interest in the opposite sex and the first attempts at friendships with the opposite sex are made. It is a period when school success and exams are very important. The social phobia that emerges during this period severely disrupts the development of the adolescent. Therefore, it is necessary to recognize social phobic tendencies at an early stage and seek psychiatric help. Some socially phobic adolescents know that their fears are ridiculous, and some do not. When working with these adolescents, psychiatrists both help them understand that these fears have no basis and help them reduce their excessive anxiety with the help of medications. They provide some relief. When his fears subside, the adolescent has the opportunity to reveal and try the skills that he was previously extremely afraid to demonstrate. Thus, his self-confidence increases and he gets rid of the vicious circle he has fallen into.
The biggest mistake families generally make regarding adolescents who show symptoms of social phobia is to criticize him for his timidity or clumsiness and thus think that he will get better. Because the opposite usually happens, and the family's criticism causes the adolescent's already low self-confidence to decrease, to pay more attention to himself, and to watch himself with critical eyes. This situation disrupts the naturalness of his movements and increases his anxiety.
The best thing the family can do is to provide environments where the adolescent can develop his social skills. This environment can be achieved by supporting him to strengthen his bond with his close circle of friends, where he feels safer, and by directing him to areas where he feels safe. For example, when an adolescent who has inadequate social skills but is successful in sports is directed to do sports, his success in sports will increase his self-confidence, and this will help him to behave more confidently in social environments. Families must get rid of the misconception that they can correct their especially timid children by criticizing them.
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