Social anxiety is a condition characterized by emotional discomfort, fear, apprehension, and worry about social situations that could potentially expose a person to public scrutiny and evaluation. It is directly linked to the fear or discomfort with social interactions.

Put another way, this condition is anxiety and fear over being evaluated negatively by others, leading to feelings of inadequacy, humiliation, embarrassment, and depression. The fear that people with social phobia or social anxiety experience are often too overwhelming that they go through lengths to avoid being in a situation that will cause their fear to develop. Its nickname, ‘crippling shyness’, appropriately describes how debilitating this condition to those who experience it.

{Specific Social Anxiety Versus Generalized Social Anxiety}

As its name suggests, specific social anxiety is the fear of one or two specific social situations. This could be the fear of speaking in public, fear of doing something that everyone can see, or fear of speaking to a figure of importance or authority. Meanwhile, generalized social anxiety is the fear of most, if not all social situations.

What do people with social anxiety disorder fear and avoid.

People suffering from with either condition usually experience significant emotional distress when faced with two types of situations: performance situations (or situations that force them to perform in front of others or allow other people to observe them) and social interaction situations (or situations that force them to engage or interact with other people. Most people dealing with this condition try to avoid both types of situations.

Examples of performance situations that people with social anxiety disorder try to avoid are public speaking, being the center of attention, being introduced to other people (fear is at its highest level when the person is being introduced to someone perceived as better than him), interpersonal relationships, performing in public, making mistakes in front of other people, being in public areas such as public transportation vehicles or shopping malls, and doing something in public such as writing, drinking or eating.

Examples of social interaction situations that people dealing with this condition fear being intimate with someone, talking to strangers, initiating and marinating conversation, going on a date or a party, being assertive, and expressing personal opinions.

{Symptoms}

When exposed to such situations, someone with social anxiety or phobia would often suffer from psychological and physiological symptoms like intense and uncontrollable fear, racing heart, drying mouth, excessive sweating, muscle freezing (especially of the face), extreme self-consciousness and difficulty swallowing.

{Causes}

There are two causes to Social anxiety– biological factors and psychological factors. Biological factors include abnormal brain activity in response to normal events and situations, abnormal levels of specific neurotransmitters in the brain, and genetic make-up of the person. Psychological factors, meanwhile, include having a history of negative experiences with social situations, having better ability to pay close attention to events and people that are considered socially threatening, having negative beliefs and interpretations of social situations, and having a greater tendency for anxious behaviors.

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