Social phobia: why do we become afraid of interacting with others? – Online Psychologists

Social phobia is a disorder that prevents people from leading a normal life, which can manifest itself in anxiety and social isolation.

The social phobia It is a chronic disease characterized by a continuous and intense fear or anxiety to social situations in which the person feels observed and analyzed by others.

These people feel embarrassed when they are in front of other people and have fear of being humiliated or judged negatively.

Their biggest concern is the fear of feeling humiliated or negatively valued. by other people, thus limiting their ability to live a normal life and interact with others, thereby losing their quality of life.

Social phobia is more common in stages such as childhood or adolescence. It causes disability and suffering in terms of academic studies, work and economy, as well as relationships with others.

Being a chronic disease The most common thing is that it ends up causing depression and sometimes abuse of substances such as alcohol. Social phobia is ranked fourth behind disorders such as alcoholism, depression and other phobias and according to a study 12.1% of Americans experience it in their lifetime.

People who suffer from social phobia are afraid of:

The fear that these people feel when doing any activity like the ones mentioned above is disproportionate. However, even though it may seem untrue, Anxiety makes these situations bearable (with discomfort and anguish)

Social situations such as talking to others create fear and anxiety because the person thinks they will be evaluated by others. They are afraid of showing some symptoms that can produce negative emotions in others such as sweating, blushing or stuttering.

Social phobia has very different characteristics from other phobias such as comorbidity with other mental disordersthe important one impact on quality of life and the increased risk of alcohol consumption and other addictions.

It is currently designated as an independent entity within anxiety disorders.

There are very serious cases that are known as widespread moderate genetic basis. Relatives of a person with social phobia have a very high risk of developing this disorder. Heritability is 20-50%.

However, other psychosocial factors have been established, such as parental rejection and overprotection.

There is temperamental factors such as the fear of being negatively evaluated and judged by people and the inhibition of behavior. On the other hand, there are the environmental factorsat risk, and refer to adversity and child abuse.

This is characterized by the Fear and avoidance of situations that involve interaction with people outside their familyfor example, greeting someone you meet on the street.

In addition, it also increases anxiety.

This phobia has a high genetic loadwhich makes it normal for there to be people in the same family with the same disorder.

Generalized social phobia results in more disability and distress, and therefore a higher risk of substance abuse, suicide attempts, depression, or problems at work.

When people experience these types of situations, it is more normal for anxiety to go unnoticed. easier to treat since these are situations that do not occur every day and therefore, the person leads a normal life.

As for the differences:

The main symptom is the appearance of anxiety prior to exposure situations social or interaction with others. It can sometimes appear during.

People who have fear they avoid talking about intimate things or avoid places with a lot of light. People who have symptoms of sweating avoid shaking hands, writing, picking up glasses, etc.

Symptoms are not the same at all stages.

Young children most commonly express themselves through crying and tantrums. It can be confused with the shyness that appears when meeting someone new or with the separation anxiety that appears at 8 months.

It is very common for this disorder to appear from the shyness or fear of socializing in childhood. It can arise little by little and gradually or appear from one day to the next after a negative experience.

An example that causes quite a bit of anxiety is that of go to the blackboard in front of the whole class. Children feel ashamed and afraid of failing and this makes many children not want to go out or they start crying. The consequence is that this makes children feel humiliated because others laugh, something that causes that feeling of anxiety in case it happens again.

Have to defending oneself from one's classmates at recess This is also a common situation. The child moves away for fear of being humiliated, which causes other children to approach him and his anxiety to grow.

At this stage the situations of Maximum social exposure is not usually a problem since they don't do the same things as children.

However, There are people who have a very intense social phobia and it causes them to have symptoms in everyday situations. Things like ordering at a bar or saying hello to a neighbor can cause severe anxiety to the point of not wanting to leave the house and not wanting to interact with people who are not part of their family circle.

The most common thing is that this anxiety appears before an interaction situation. For them, the most comfortable thing is to avoid these situations and In the end they make them not leave the house or interact with anyone else.which makes it the most disabling symptom of social phobia.

The disorder only appears in adulthood when a negative situation has been experienced, otherwise, it appears in childhood.

Sometimes adults experience changes in their lives such as a promotion to a more responsible position at work, something that increases their anxiety.

There are also people who have this disorder due to some problem with your appearance such as diseases such as deafness or hair loss.

Social phobia is diagnosed with a consult a specialistThere are also tests that can give a fairly accurate result of whether someone suffers from this disorder, but it is essential that a professional diagnose it.

In addition, functional neuroimaging tests have been performed on people with this phobia and it has been found that subjects who suffer from it have a increased activation of the amygdala when patients were exposed to negative or threatening facial expressions. However, these tests are only done at an experimental and academic level, not in hospitals.

As we have already mentioned, this phobia is experienced in childhood and adolescence and to make a diagnosis it has to persist for at least six months.

It is also more normal for women that in men and with a low social and economic level.

According to studies, 80% of people with social phobia experience another type of psychiatric illness.

The first thing is to tell your family and then a doctor. He or she will perform a clinical examination to verify that these symptoms are not caused by a physical problem.

Generally social phobia It is treated with psychotherapy. This therapy is very useful for treating the disorder. It usually teaches ways of behaving, thinking and reacting to social situations. It also helps us to lead a normal daily life and develop social skills.

The support groups They are also very beneficial in dealing with this phobia. After all, everyone in the group suffers from this disorder and shares their feelings. No one judges them and makes them feel identified. In addition, they give their point of view on how they try to deal with this phobia and overcome the fear of social situations.

If you think you have social phobia It is best that you go to a specialist that helps you control anxiety in these situations.

Try a free session and our team of psychologists specializing in social phobia at will help you combat your fear.