subject: Social Anxiety Disorder and 1 Simple Technique to Beat Your Social Phobia [print this page] What is social anxiety disorder? Well, we all have fears and we all have situations or places we would rather avoid. For instance, going for a job interview, passing a driving test, sitting an exam, being alone at night, driving in rush hour traffic, shopping in a crowded supermarket, and so on.
Most people manage to control their fears and anxiety and get on with their lives. But there are very many people who just cannot cope that way. Their fear and anxiety are so high and intense that it consumes their very existence. They are constantly fearful and on edge, and worry about everyday things in a manner that is totally inappropriate to their significance.
And they are aware that they have this social phobia -- for that's what it is -- and that their fears are unreasonable, but they feel totally unable to overcome those fears. There are many such phobias, and social anxiety disorder is just one.
Social anxiety disorder is a phobia centred around the fear, or terror even, of some manner of social interaction that might cause embarrassment. For example, many men find it difficult to urinate in a public toilet if there's another guy there. Another example of a social phobia is where sufferers are terrified of public speaking, even at a family wedding. And yet other social phobias are that many people don't like to be touched, don't like to be watched while eating, being in crowds, etc.
In these types of social situations, their anxiety levels are rapidly increased by their fears to such a level that they trigger a panic attack. And the symptoms of such an attack are truly terrifying; sweating, blushing, tightness across the chest, choking feeling, hyperventilation, dizziness, trembling, racing heartbeat, confusion and even a feeling of impending doom.
The symptoms of a panic / anxiety attack are just so horrendous that the sufferer understandably fears that they will be ridiculed, pointed at, singled out and embarrassed. And this makes their fears even worse. Because of this people with social anxiety disorder will shun social contact, which has a huge impact on their quality of life and life chances.
There are prescription medications that can help to calm them down, and, help to manage or control their mood. But these have to be very carefully administered since they have serious side effects including dependency issues. And they are in reality only addressing the 'symptoms' of social anxiety disorder, not the underlying cause, which is the very real 'fear' that sufferers constantly carry around with them.
This fear is just so intense that it continually builds upon itself so that a sufferer's anxiety levels continue to rise and can trigger a panic attack at any time. Just the fear of having to go to a job interview can actually cause an attack, for example. It has been referred to as a vicious cycle of anxiety. And like any vicious cycle you have to break out of it in order to cure your social anxiety disorder.
Social Anxiety Disorder and 1 Simple Technique to Beat Your Social Phobia
