Living With Social Anxiety Disorder
For the 1-2% of men and 2-3% of women who suffer from Social Anxiety Disorder treatment comes in several forms and their effectiveness will vary from person to person.
Do You Have A Social Anxiety Disorder?
People who have a general social phobia find themselves worrying about being the center of attention in social situations.The social fear may also stem from the feeling that they are being watched and judged by others around them, and experience feelings of dread and aprehension as a result.
Mild social anxiety is quite common, however it can affect day to day life. It may make it impossible for you to confront friends, family, colleagues or your boss, even when it is justified. Going to parties or undressing at the beach are often hurdles that sufferers find insurmountable.
How Does It Feel?
Because your social phobia means you are uncomfortable in social situations, you may become extremely anxious before having to attend certain events. You may get a dry mouth, sweat profusely, suffer palpitations.The fear of communicating to others will make it impossible to communicate as you want to, which draws more attention to you and completes the cycle.
A worst case scenario is that these feelings and symptoms will culminate into a panic attack, which may last just a few minutes, but are overwhelming.
After an event, you may go through what happened in your head, such as things that you said or did, and how you could have acted differently.
Flow On Effects Of Social Phobia
Social anxiety disorder treatment is important to prevent any flow-on affects of the condition. These can lead to depressive illness, and agoraphobia, which is the inability to go out. Others resort to alcohol or tranquilizers to alleviate the symptoms, creating the possibility of addiction in both cases.
Help Is At Hand
People who suffer a social anxiety disorder are treated in several ways, either in a combined approach or individually. They include:
Psychological Strategies
(a) Social Skills: Being re-taught basic things like how to introduce yourself and first steps in starting a conversation. Practice is most useful here, best done in a group situation.
(b) (CBT), or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: This therapy teaches us to practice removing the negative feelings of fault and blame from the sufferers analysis of social situations.
(c) Exposure Therapy: Learning how to relax in frightening situations is something that is done gradually – increasing the level of exposure over time and teaching anxiety management techniques along the way.
Self-Help
Yoga and relaxation techniques are great skills for people with social anxiety disorders. These can be undertaken in live classes or by DVD at home. Classes in assertiveness, self-confidence or public speaking will also help those who are shy or who suffer specific social phobia.
Drug Therapies
There are several types of drug therapies that are used in social anxiety disorder treatment, and should be prescribed only by a qualified health professional. They include Beta-Blockers, Antidepressants and Tranquilizers.
Drug therapies are being trialled, improved and released all the time, so up to date information on current successful developments is vital.
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