The persistent fear of embarrassment, condemnation, or humiliation in social settings is known as social anxiety disorder.
Extreme anxiety that interferes with everyday functioning or parts of life, such as relationships or employment, is a defining feature of this condition among its sufferers. Social phobia was the previous term for social anxiety disorder, according to Health.
In any given year, about 7% of adult Americans suffer with social anxiety disorder. After particular phobia, this disorder is the second most often diagnosed anxiety disorder.
Reducing symptoms is the aim of treatment in order to improve functioning both before and during social situations. A medical professional will describe two possible therapy categories and provide suggestions based on the severity of the symptoms. They are as follows:
Talking to a mental health expert can help you develop new ways of thinking about and handling circumstances that cause anxiety. This is known as cognitive behavioural therapy, or CBT.
In addition, systematic desensitisation, also known as exposure therapy, is a type of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in which patients learn how to be at ease in social settings and are then gradually challenged to put the skills into practice in real life.
Second therapy is called social skills training. In this kind of treatment, patients role-play social interactions. They do this by carrying out this action in a group.
For those who have mild-to-moderate social anxiety disorder — for example, maybe it’s not causing you panic attacks — finding ways to practice public speaking is a good approach. Dr. Potter suggests joining a group such as Toastmasters, which is for specifically practicing public speaking and rehearsing.
Among the different kinds of psychotherapy available, cognitive behavioral therapy — which involves making changes to the way you think and feel about a situation, which, in turn, can help you modify your behavior — is a helpful way to approach social anxiety. “With social anxiety specifically, you want to identify patterns of thinking that cause you to avoid social situations — like if a person’s always expecting the worst outcome, or a person is fixated on the fact that someone might see them blushing, or sweating or stammering,” says Dr. Potter.
