Overcoming Social Anxiety

Social anxiety is the tense feeling or nervousness in certain social situations. It is a normal part of life. But, when social anxiety is too extreme that it causes constant agony or keeps you from doing your daily routing, it may be already a social anxiety disorder. Those suffering from social anxiety disorder may have a hard time making friends or going on dates. Career choices may also be limited because of their excessive anxiety.



Social anxiety disorder has two subtypes: A generalized anxiety disorder and a non-generalized anxiety disorder. People suffering from a generalized anxiety disorder worry about the same things as other people such as money, family issues, health problems or work related issues. But unlike most people, they worry at an excessive and unreasonable level. People with non-generalized anxiety disorders have specific social situations that they fear such as eating in public, urinating in a public facility or speaking or performing in front of an audience.



It is important to get help for overcoming social anxiety before it completely takes control of your life.



Medicine



Using antidepressants to help in overcoming social anxiety disorder has been successful in lessening the anxiety. The standard antidepressant drugs used in Social Anxiety Treatments are Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs). The three medications approved for Social Anxiety Treatment by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are Sertraline, Paroxetine and Venlafaxine. The three medications are the first SSRI choices but other antidepressants may be prescribed if the patient does not respond to them. Medications are only for short term use since it easily makes people dependent on it.



It could take a few weeks for Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors to take effect. A common process used by doctors is to prescribe an SSRI and an anti anxiety medication during the weeks that the SSRI is not effective yet. The anti anxiety medication is gradually lessened as the SSRI takes effect.



If a patient is not getting psychotherapy treatment together with the medication, getting off on the drugs often makes patients relapse since these medications do not treat the main cause of the social anxiety disorder.



Psychotherapy



The most efficient and long term treatment in overcoming social anxiety disorder is a form of psychotherapy called cognitive behavioral therapy. This form of psychotherapy has been proven to treat several different forms of anxiety disorder. The cognitive behavioral therapy technique used in overcoming social anxiety has two goals. Firstly, by replacing unconstructive thought patterns with realistic ones, the therapy helps people confront and then conquer their fears. Next, the therapy helps people control their physical anxiety reactions. Cognitive behavioral therapy tackles both the physical factors and emotional factors or the social anxiety disorder.



Psychosocial treatment



Many psychosocial methods have been used for overcoming social anxiety. These techniques concentrate on the interactions between patient and therapist. These treatments are more discussion based. The sessions could include individual or group counseling. There is no proven evidence to support the effectiveness of this treatment in overcoming social anxiety but there are some subjective reports stating that these have been helpful.

Family and Friends – Major Social Anxiety Support

Millions of people are experiencing anxiety problems. These problems are the result of human condition and how people work. Mind has its own place and in itself can make a heaven of hell or a hell of heaven that is why anxiety can be stop depending on the choice of the person suffering from it. Dealing with these problems takes courage because self-doubt and fear play a major role in it and taking social anxiety support would help a lot.


Generally, anxiety is a chronic psychiatric condition of excessive worry or fear. Symptoms typically begin in the teens or twenties and, while persisting, tend to fluctuate considerably over time. The condition occurs in up to 5% to 15% of general medical outpatients, more commonly in women. Significant adjustments can be noted in motor tension, autonomic hyperactivity, and hyper vigilance.

In like manner, social anxiety problems reflect the subconscious way of a person against dealing and mingling with other people. Behaviours that are associated with anxiety include disturbing thoughts, the need for perfection, ritualistic checking, panics and despair. However, numerous methods can help you stop anxiety attacks. However, you can use methods such as social anxiety support depending on the severity of the condition. Each condition should be dealt with appropriate action to stop your anxiety attacks.


Find a friend


Go out find a friend whom you can converse with. This is a simple step to overcome your social fear. A comic relief can be a good and effective way to stop anxiety. It is said that laughter is the best medicine and it is beneficial in meeting different challenges in life. Humour has been brought in the frontline for stress management and for healing.



Coping with anxiety disorder requires moral support from family, friends, mentors and other role models. Talking and venting is also a simple social anxiety support but important strategy to relieve or stop anxiety. Expressing your anxiety removes the negative emotions and thoughts within your body. Find a good listener like your friends or family to clear out your mind from anxious thinking.



You can also join support groups where in you can seek and find information on how to overcome anxiety and deal with it. This is the most effective approach of social anxiety support. Engage in hobbies such as shopping and other activities that will keep you busy. As much as possible, take frequent lunch vacation with your friends and create unique activities. Always find time for a break and unwinding activities. Following all the above-cited effective ways to stop anxiety you will surely feel better.



Aside from adhering to social anxiety support, it is also advised to improve self-esteem because this will help you alleviate and stop anxiety conditions. As much as possible avoid situations that makes you anxious and avoid worrying. However, you should also learn to manage stress in your life. While finding ways to stop anxiety, it is ideal that you start dealing with these problems with courage against fear and self-doubt. We all grow and learn through our experiences and anxiety develops from negative experiences. However, it can be reverted and if only you choose to become stronger, better and wiser to tackle experience.

Social Anxiety Disorder: Disordering Our Lives

Being anxious especially in a meeting or an oral report is indeed normal. It has been a common feeling by us when we are not yet acquainted of the environment and the scenarios that we have. However, there are some instances wherein people cannot do away with the anxiousness that they felt. Such feeling is commonly known as social phobia or the social anxiety disorder. Social phobia is said to be among the top three psychological disorders that we can get aside from the leading depression and even the substance abuse.

For those people having social anxiety disorder, they are known to have this feeling or fear of doing things and would just end up being criticized and discriminated by other people. With this, they are known to portray a person who is being unintelligent or inarticulate that would lead to a wrong connotation that they are weak.

There are a lot of scenarios and instances wherein people with social anxiety disorder is becoming apparent. If we find a person who seems to be very self-conscious in just an act of drinking or eating in front of you, then surely that person has a social phobia syndrome. These are acts that they portray since it seems for them that they are always being watched by other people on what they are doing. In such assumptions, they trembling a lot as if they are very much nervous in the simple act that they are doing.

Another scenario wherein we can catch a person with social anxiety disorder would be in dating. Since dating would entail a face-to-face and one-on-one communication between two persons, a person with social phobia syndrome will indeed find it hard to handle the given scenario. With that, they always fail in fostering relationship with other people and especially in romantic relationships with the opposite sex.

Talking about the symptoms that we can get out of social anxiety disorder syndrome would be seen in the physical aspects of a person. These people are known to experience shaky hands, trembling voice, profuse sweating, and brisk heart rate. Such symptoms are the very same reasons why there is the decrease of self-esteem of a certain person. Because of social phobia syndrome, many people are resorting to things that are very extreme. For those teens with social phobia syndrome are likely to drop out in the studies. This is their only way so that they can be able to do away with the humiliation that they can get out from the people who might judge them in the future. In short, they resort in excluding themselves in life’s mainstream.

Thus, it is very important for us to understand those people who have social phobia syndrome. It has shown that what they are undergoing is something that we should all think about. They are just victims of this disorder and we should also do our part in making them feel they are still accepted in the society that they would like to turn away from.