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.