Symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder

Symptoms 

Feelings of shyness or discomfort in certain situations aren't necessarily signs of social anxiety disorder, particularly in children. Comfort levels in social situations vary, depending on personality traits and life experiences. Some people are naturally reserved and others are more outgoing.

In contrast to everyday nervousness, social anxiety disorder includes fear, anxiety and avoidance that interfere with daily routine, work, school or other activities. Social anxiety disorder typically begins in the early to mid-teens, though it can sometimes start in younger children or in adults.

Emotional and behavioral symptoms

Signs and symptoms of social anxiety disorder can include persistent:

• Fear of situations in which you may be judged
• Worrying about embarrassing or humiliating yourself
• Intense fear of interacting or talking with strangers
• Fear that others will notice that you look anxious
• Fear of physical symptoms that may cause you embarrassment, such as blushing, sweating, trembling or having a shaky voice
• Avoiding doing things or speaking to people out of fear of embarrassment
• Avoiding situations where you might be the center of attention
• Having anxiety in anticipation of a feared activity or event
• Enduring a social situation with intense fear or anxiety
• Spending time after a social situation analyzing your performance and identifying flaws in your interactions
• Expecting the worst possible consequences from a negative experience during a social situation

For children, anxiety about interacting with adults or peers may be shown by crying, having temper tantrums, clinging to parents or refusing to speak in social situations.

Performance type of social anxiety disorder is when you experience intense fear and anxiety only during speaking or performing in public, but not in other types of social situations.

Physical symptoms

Physical signs and symptoms can sometimes accompany social anxiety disorder and may include:

• Blushing
• Fast heartbeat
• Trembling
• Sweating
• Upset stomach or nausea
• Trouble catching your breath
• Dizziness
• Feeling that your mind has gone blank
• Muscle tension

Avoiding common social situations

Common, everyday experiences that may be hard to endure when you have social anxiety disorder include, for example:

• Interacting with unfamiliar people or strangers
• Attending parties or social gatherings
• Going to work or school
• Starting conversations
• Making eye contact
• Dating
• Entering a room in which people are already seated
• Returning items to a store
• Eating in front of others
• Using a public restroom

Social Anxiety Disorder

Social Anxiety Disorder

The defining feature of social anxiety disorder, also called social phobia, is intense anxiety or fear of being judged, negatively evaluated, or rejected in a social or performance situation. People with social anxiety disorder may worry about acting or appearing visibly anxious (e.g., blushing, stumbling over words), or being viewed as stupid, awkward, or boring. As a result, they often avoid social or performance situations, and when a situation cannot be avoided, they experience significant anxiety and distress. Many people with social anxiety disorder also experience strong physical symptoms, such as a rapid heart rate, nausea, and sweating, and may experience full-blown attacks when confronting a feared situation. Although they recognize that their fear is excessive and unreasonable, people with social anxiety disorder often feel powerless against their anxiety. 

Social anxiety disorder can wreak havoc on the lives of those who suffer from it. 

For example, individuals may decline a job opportunity that requires frequent interaction with new people or avoid going out to eat with friends due to a fear that their hands will shake when eating or drinking. Symptoms may be so extreme that they disrupt daily life and
 can interfere significantly with daily routines, occupational performance, or social life, making it difficult to complete school, interview and get a job, and have friendships and romantic relationships. People with social anxiety disorder are also at an increased risk for developing major depressive disorder and alcohol use disorders. 

Despite the availability of effective treatments, fewer than 5% of people of with social anxiety disorder seek treatment in the year following initial onset and more than a third of people report symptoms for 10 or more years before seeking help.

How to handle someone having panic attacks?

• Helping someone with Anxiety or Panic attacks.
• DO,

1. Do remind the person having a panic attack that they are in no way obligated to stay where they are. They can leave if they are panicking about something or feel uncomfortable. Offer them a ride home if necessary after observing the person’s current mental capacity. Absolutely don’t pressure them to do something they don’t want to do.
2. Do assure them there is nothing to be afraid of. Someone experiencing a panic attack will probably find it a lot harder to rationalize the fact that there’s no real reason to be panicking, that’s the sad truth. Remind them they are completely safe and that you are there to help them through this.
3. Do let them know that it’s only temporary. Panic attacks don’t and will never last forever. Despite the terrible mental state the sufferer might be in, it’s comforting to know that it will go away soon.
4. Do encourage them to breathe. Breathing is particularly difficult during a panic attack and someone experiencing it could forget to breathe properly. Tell them to take a deep breath in for four seconds, then let it out for four seconds and repeat. Breathing helps, but it only helps when done correctly.
5. Do attempt to have an engaging conversation with them. Chances are if you’re a friend, you know what piques the person’s interest. Try to casually bring the topic up. Don’t bombard the person in a panic attack with a lengthy conversation as this could be overwhelming, but try to slowly capture their interest and lure them away from the feeling of panic.
6. Do stay with them. If the person panicking wants you to leave, it’s most likely the anxiety talking. More often than not, a panic attack only gets worse if the person is left alone to suffer through their own thoughts. Stay by their side no matter what.

Don’t

1. Don’t let denial fool you. No matter how comfortable I am around a person, if they ask if everything’s okay when they accurately sense something is not, I assure them everything is fine. I imagine many people do the same. Don’t let this fool you. If the symptoms of a panic attack are apparent, treat the situation as such.
2. Don’t tell them to calm down or relax. There’s a huge chance this will only make the anxiety worse. It’s not as simple as being able to “calm down” or “relax” so don’t suggest it.
3. Don’t ask why they’re panicking. The sufferer probably knows just as much as you do in that moment.
4. Don’t brush it off. You might be in the company of someone who is on their 37th panic attack this year alone. Don’t think that by now they’re used to it. Every panic attack is every bit as traumatizing as the previous one. Certainly don’t brush off or ignore any panic attack, no matter what the circumstances are.
5. Don’t bullshit. “Look over there at that bird!” “Stare at me for 10 seconds.” “Close your eyes and picture a nice glowing star.” No, no, and no. Don’t bullshit someone while they’re in a panic attack. None of that works and you know it. The person panicking will be fully aware that you’re trying to distract them temporarily from the panic, which won’t help at all.
6. Don’t seem irritated or judgmental. This sounds obvious, but it’s important. One of my biggest fears is that when I’m having a panic attack, I’m inconveniencing people or people are judging me because they don’t understand what the problem is. Even if you are somewhat annoyed, maintain composure and keep in mind that you are nowhere near as annoyed as the person actually experiencing the panic attack is.

How to reduce Anxiety

Why anxiety can be socially isolating.

Anxiety makes people focus more on themselves and reduces their empathy for others, psychologists have found. The study’s results may help explain why anxiety can be such an isolating emotion. 

You can inherit anxiety from your parents.

The network consists of three regions in the brain which work together to control the fear-response. The study found that around 35% of the difference in anxiety was explained by family history.

Write out your worries and fears

Expressive writing, or writing about difficult emotions that you have about your life or a specific situation, has been found to be beneficial in a wide range of studies.  You set a fixed amount of time, each day, to write out how you feel about difficult things that are going on. This has been shown to help with mild to moderate depression and anxiety, and even improves symptoms of chronic pain. (It may not be helpful immediately after a significantly traumatic event though, experts recommend waiting a month or two for things to settle before using this in that circumstance). It can be very helpful to do before bed if you suffer from insomnia (the kind where anxious thoughts keep you up at night), and can even help you perform better at work-related tasks that you find anxiety-provoking. 

 Get help

If your anxiety is significantly impacting your life and/or relationships, don’t try to white-knuckle it on your own. See your doctor, to assess whether your anxiety might have a medical cause.  If it is purely psychological, expert counseling treatments such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can be extremely helpful. I’m a proponent of trying non-pharmaceutical treatments first, but medication can be a lifesaver if you’re drowning in fear and can’t function in your daily life.  It’s unlikely that you would be on it life-long, but for many people it takes the edge off during a season of crisis, so that you’re no longer just trying to survive and are more able to take the necessary steps to get your life back on track.

Anxiety

ANXIETY

It is a general term for several disorders that cause nervousness, fear, apprehension, and worrying. These disorders affect how we feel and behave and can cause physical symptoms. Mild anxiety is vague and unsettling, while severe anxiety can seriously affect day-to-day living.Anxiety is a natural human reaction to stressful situations, but becomes a condition when it frequently occurs without a trigger. When faced with potentially harmful or worrying triggers, feelings of anxiety are not only normal but necessary for survival.

Ever since the earliest days of humanity, the approach of predators and incoming danger has set off alarms in the body and allowed an individual to take evasive action. These alarms become noticeable in the form of a raised heartbeat, sweating, and increased sensitivity to surroundings.

A rush of adrenaline in response to danger causes these reactions. This adrenaline boost is known as the ‘fight-or-flight’ response. It prepares humans to physically confront or flee any threats to safety.

For most modern individuals, running from larger animals and imminent danger is a less pressing concern. Anxieties now revolve around work, money, family life, health, and other crucial issues that demand a person’s attention without necessarily requiring the ‘fight-or-flight’ reaction.

That nervous feeling before an important life event or during a difficult situation is a natural echo of the original ‘fight-or-flight’ reaction. It can still be essential to survival – anxiety about being hit by a car when crossing the street, for example, means that a person will instinctively look both ways to avoid danger.

Anxiety disorder

The duration or severity of an anxious feeling can sometimes be out of proportion to the original trigger, or stress. Physical symptoms, such as increased blood pressure and nausea, may also become evident. These responses move beyond anxiety into an anxiety disorder.Anxiety disorders occur when a reaction is out of proportion to what might normally be expected in a situation.