Social Anxiety Disorder

#SocialAnxiety

It's normal to feel nervous in some social situations. For example, going on a date or giving a presentation may cause that feeling of butterflies in your stomach. But in social anxiety disorder, also called social phobia, everyday interactions cause significant anxiety, self-consciousness and embarrassment because you fear being scrutinized or judged negatively by others.

In social anxiety disorder, fear and anxiety lead to avoidance that can disrupt your life. Severe stress can affect your relationships, daily routines, work, school or other activities.

Social anxiety disorder can be a chronic mental health condition, but learning coping skills in psychotherapy and taking medications can help you gain confidence and improve your ability to interact with others.

Social anxiety disorder, also called social phobia, is a long-term and overwhelming fear of social situations.

It's a common problem that usually starts during the teenage years. It can be very distressing and have a big impact on your life.

For some people it gets better as they get older. But for many people it does not go away on its own without treatment.

You can refer to this:

resiliens.com/resilify/program/dealing-with-social-anxiety

#SocialAnxiety

Genetic

If you are diagnosed with SAD, you probably have specific genes that made you more prone to developing the disorder. If you have a first degree relative with SAD, you may also be two to six times more likely to develop the disorder.

Heritability is the proportion of variation in a phenotype (trait, characteristic, or physical feature) that is thought to be caused by genetic variation among individuals. The remaining variation is usually attributed to environmental factors. Studies of heritability typically estimate the proportional contribution of genetic and environmental factors to a particular trait or feature.

Environmental

The psychosocial causes of social anxiety disorder (SAD) include factors in the environment that influence you as you grow up. If one of your parents has social anxiety disorder (SAD), then you are more likely to develop the disorder yourself. This could be due to both genetic and environmental influences.

Behavioral Inhibition in Childhood

Do you know a toddler or young child who always becomes extremely upset when confronted with a new situation or unfamiliar person? When faced with these types of situations does the child cry, withdraw, or seek the comfort of a parent?

This type of behavior in toddlers and young children is known as behavioral inhibition. Children who show behavioral inhibition as a toddler are at greater risk for developing SAD later in life.

Societal

Societal factors that can influence the development of social anxiety include growing up in a culture with a strong collectivistic orientation, such as Japan or Korea. The syndrome taijin kyofusho in these cultures involves a fear of making other people uncomfortable and reflects a culture in which concern for how you fit as part of the larger group is emphasized.

Brain Structure/Biological

Just as x-rays are used to “see inside” your body, the same can be done for your brain. Medical researchers use a technique called “neuroimaging” to create a picture of the brain. Newer techniques can look not only at brain structure but at types of functions in specific regions of the brain.

For mental disorders, researchers may look differences in blood flow in specific areas of the brain for people who are known to have a particular disorder.

Neurotransmitters

If you have social anxiety disorder, there are likely imbalances of certain chemicals in your brain, known as neurotransmitters. These neurotransmitters are used by your brain to send signals from one cell to another.

You can refer to this:

resiliens.com/resilify/program/dealing-with-social-anxiety

#SocialAnxiety

Symptoms of social anxiety disorder typically fall within three different areas. While everyone's experience is different, symptoms of the condition typically result in physical, cognitive, and behavioral symptoms.

Physical Symptoms

The physical symptoms of SAD can be extremely distressing. Common physical symptoms include:

-Blurred vision

-Blushing

-Chest pain and tightness

-Chills

-Diarrhea

-Dizziness

-Dry mouth

-Feelings of unreality (derealization) or feelings of detachment from oneself (depersonalization)

-Headaches

-Heart pounding (palpitations) and racing (tachycardia)

-Lump in the throat

-Muscle tension

-Nausea

-Paresthesias (tingling)

-Ringing in the ears

-Shaking

-Shortness of breath

-Sweating

-Trembling voice

In some cases, these physical symptoms may become so severe that they escalate into a full-blown panic attack. However, unlike those with panic disorder, people with SAD know that their panic is provoked by fears of social and performance-related situations rather than fears about the panic attacks themselves.

Cognitive Symptoms

Social anxiety disorder also involves cognitive symptoms, which are dysfunctional thought patterns. If you have this condition, you might find that you are bothered by negative thoughts and self-doubt when it comes to social and performance-related situations.

Below are some common symptoms that you may experience:

-Negative beliefs: Strongly held beliefs about your inadequacy in social and/or performance-related situations

-Negative bias: A tendency to discount positive social encounters and magnify the social abilities of others

-Negative thoughts: Automatic negative evaluations about yourself in social or performance-related situations

For example, imagine you start a new job or arrive on the first day of a new class. The instructor or manager asks everyone to introduce themselves to the group.

If you have social anxiety disorder, you may start to have negative thoughts such as, “Everyone else looks so much more relaxed,” “What if I say something dumb?” or “What if everyone notices my voice shaking?”

These thoughts start to rapidly spiral out of control to the point that you don't hear anything anyone else has said. When it comes to your turn, you say as little as possible and hope that no one has noticed your anxiety.

Behavioral Symptoms

Social anxiety disorder can also cause you to act in certain ways. In many cases, you might find yourself making choices based on fear and avoidance rather than your actual preferences, desires, or ambitions. For example, you may drop a class to avoid doing a presentation or turn down a job promotion because it meant increased social and performance demands.

Below are some common behavioral symptoms:

-Avoidance: The things done or not done to reduce anxiety about being in social or performance-related situations

-Safety behaviors: Actions taken to control or limit experiences of social or performance-related situations

-Escape: Leaving or escaping from a feared social or performance situation.

You can refer to this:

resiliens.com/resilify/program/dealing-with-social-anxiety

#SocialAnxiety

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) help can come in many forms. Although treatment is available and effective for SAD, it is estimated that only 35 percent of people with the disorder ever receive treatment.

Below are some tips to help you cope with social anxiety on a day-to-day basis, such as while at work or attending school.

-Tell your employer so that you can receive accommodations or supports in the workplace.

-Arrive to meetings early so you can meet people one-by-one as they arrive.

-Make a list of questions to ask your teacher or supervisor and start with the least anxiety-provoking ones.

-Keep up on current events so that you will be able to participate in small talk.

-Avoid using alcohol to overcome inhibitions.

-Choose a job for which you have passion so that even the most challenging aspects of work in terms of your social anxiety will seem worth it.

-Make new friends by greeting people, giving compliments, and starting brief conversations.

-Get regular exercise, eat healthy food, and avoid caffeine and sugar to reduce your anxiety.

You can refer to this:

resiliens.com/resilify/program/dealing-with-social-anxiety

On my walk yesterday I went to the mall had my Starbucks and I went to Barnes and Noble I swore I wasn’t going to buy anything 😂 but something caught my eye in the psychology department. I bought an anxiety journal takes about different kinds of #Anxiety . They talk about #SocialAnxietyDisorder #PanicAttacks #PTSD #GeneralizedAnxietyDisorde . They about triggers, #Mindfulness

#SocialAnxiety

Symptoms of social anxiety disorder typically fall within three different areas. While everyone's experience is different, symptoms of the condition typically result in physical, cognitive, and behavioral symptoms.

Physical Symptoms

The physical symptoms of SAD can be extremely distressing. Common physical symptoms include:

-Blurred vision

-Blushing

-Chest pain and tightness

-Chills

-Diarrhea

-Dizziness

-Dry mouth

-Feelings of unreality (derealization) or feelings of detachment from oneself (depersonalization)

-Headaches

-Heart pounding (palpitations) and racing (tachycardia)

-Lump in the throat

-Muscle tension

-Nausea

-Paresthesias (tingling)

-Ringing in the ears

-Shaking

-Shortness of breath

-Sweating

-Trembling voice

In some cases, these physical symptoms may become so severe that they escalate into a full-blown panic attack. However, unlike those with panic disorder, people with SAD know that their panic is provoked by fears of social and performance-related situations rather than fears about the panic attacks themselves.

Cognitive Symptoms

Social anxiety disorder also involves cognitive symptoms, which are dysfunctional thought patterns. If you have this condition, you might find that you are bothered by negative thoughts and self-doubt when it comes to social and performance-related situations.

Below are some common symptoms that you may experience:

-Negative beliefs: Strongly held beliefs about your inadequacy in social and/or performance-related situations

-Negative bias: A tendency to discount positive social encounters and magnify the social abilities of others

-Negative thoughts: Automatic negative evaluations about yourself in social or performance-related situations

For example, imagine you start a new job or arrive on the first day of a new class. The instructor or manager asks everyone to introduce themselves to the group.

If you have social anxiety disorder, you may start to have negative thoughts such as, “Everyone else looks so much more relaxed,” “What if I say something dumb?” or “What if everyone notices my voice shaking?”

These thoughts start to rapidly spiral out of control to the point that you don't hear anything anyone else has said. When it comes to your turn, you say as little as possible and hope that no one has noticed your anxiety.

Behavioral Symptoms

Social anxiety disorder can also cause you to act in certain ways. In many cases, you might find yourself making choices based on fear and avoidance rather than your actual preferences, desires, or ambitions. For example, you may drop a class to avoid doing a presentation or turn down a job promotion because it meant increased social and performance demands.

Below are some common behavioral symptoms:

-Avoidance: The things done or not done to reduce anxiety about being in social or performance-related situations

-Safety behaviors: Actions taken to control or limit experiences of social or performance-related situations

-Escape: Leaving or escaping from a feared social or performance situation.

You can refer to this:

resiliens.com/resilify/program/dealing-with-social-anxiety