Social phobia: what is it and how to overcome it?

Do you feel a extreme embarrassment when talking to people you don't know? Do you feel very insecure around people most of the time? Does public speaking cause you great discomfort? Do these fears make it very difficult for you to carry out your daily tasks or talk to other people at work or at school?

If this happens to you often, you may have a anxiety disorder called social phobia.

Social phobia: what is it?

This disorder is often confused with shynessBut not all shy people suffer from social phobia.

A study carried out by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and that was published in Journal Pediatrics In 2011, 50 percent of adolescents were shy, but of these, only 12 percent meet the criteria for Social Phobia.

Social phobia is a strong irrational fear of social interaction situations. For example, the person suffering from Social Phobia feels extreme anxiety when being judged by others, being the center of attention, the idea of ​​being criticized by other individuals and even when talking on the phone with other people.

Social phobics are aware that they shouldn't feel too bad about triggers, but they are unable to control their afraid and his anxiety. In addition, they usually avoid the situations that cause the symptoms of this disorder, since they are not able to bear the discomfort.

Among these individuals there are different degrees of the disorder, and some people may feel the symptoms in some social situations (Specific social phobia), while others can feel them in all social situations (Generalized social phobia).

Causes

Social phobia usually begins during adolescence, and it is common for people who suffer from it not to seek help until after ten years of presenting symptoms. Like most phobias, the environment plays a determining role in their learning.

Although some research indicates that social phobia may be due to a neurotransmitter mismatch (especially from the serotonin), past traumatic experiences, having grown up overprotected by the family, or limited opportunities for social interaction are the most common causative factors of this phobia.

Symptoms

The symptomatology of social phobia is not different from that of other phobias, since individuals who suffer from social phobia present anxious symptoms and extreme fear in daily social situations. They think they are watched and judged by everyone, and when they do the wrong things they feel a lot of shame. The fear and anxiety they feel is so intense that it interferes with their work, school, and other day-to-day activities.

Also, other symptoms of social phobia include:

• To blush (Erythrophobia)
• Difficulty speaking
• Sickness
• Profuse sweating
• Tremors

As mentioned, people with this type of phobia they usually avoid situations that can cause the discomfort and symptoms exhibited. These include:

• Attending parties and other social gatherings
• Eating, drinking and writing in public
• Meet new people
• Public speaking
• Use public toilets

Treatment

The psychological treatment that is commonly used to treat social phobia is the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), since it helps and facilitates knowing the origin of the problem and the development of new ways to solve feared situations or phobias. CBT focuses on training the patient to detect irrational thoughts and replace them with those that will improve their quality of life. In addition, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy also includes exposure strategies to feared stimuli, in this way the patient experiences the irrationality of the phobia for himself.

Therefore, the most frequent treatment includes strategies of cognitive restructuring, social skills training, relaxation and exposure. It is important to understand that exposure is sufficient for the specific social phobia, but for the generalized social phobia there are different intervention programs that include different strategies. Here are three of the most used programs (they usually take advantage of the group format):

• Group cognitive behavioral therapy de Heimberg et al. (1998): Cognitive restructuring, group behavioral tasks and exposure to real everyday situations.

• Comprehensive cognitive behavioral therapy de Davidson et al. (2004): Cognitive restructuring, group behavioral tasks and exposure to real everyday situations and training in social skills.

• Cognitive behavioral therapy de Clark et al. (1995): proposes an Individual Treatment Protocol more focused on cognitive aspects (interpretation of social situations, performance and social risk, expectations, attention, etc.).

Bibliographic references:

• Bravo, M. TO. and Padrós, F., (2013) Explanatory models of social phobia: A cognitive-behavioral approach. Uaricha, 11 (24), 134-147.
• Hermans, D. Vantseenwegen, D. and Craske, M. G. (2008). Fears and Phobias: Discussions, Future Research, and Clinical Implications. In M. G. Craske, D. Hermans and Vansteenwegen (Eds.), Fears and phobias: from basic processes to clinical implications (pp. 257-264). Mexico: Modern Manual.
• Torgrud, L. J., Walker, J. R., Murray, L., Cox, B. J., Chartier, M. and Kjernisted, K. D. (2004). Deficits in perceived social support associated with generalized social phobia. Cognitive Behavior Therapy, 33 (2), 87–96.