Social anxiety disorder

Social phobia is a very common psychiatric picture characterized by intense anxiety which the person experiences when he faces various social situations.

Social anxiety disorder (social phobia)

Persons suffering from social phobia are generally described by others as timid and shy.

Persons suffering from social phobia try to avoid situations and places where they believe they will be exposed to the attention of others (for example speaking in front of a crowd, dining with people they don’t know, talking to their superiors, expressing their views directly). When they cannot escape such situations they become extremely agitated because of their fear of behaving wrongly and embarrassing or disgracing themselves. They become inhibited and avoidant. They experience various physical symptoms like sweating, palpitations, quavering of voice or trembling of the body, a desire to urinate.

In which people are social phobias more common?

Social phobias are more common in men. Social phobias can lead to a failure in the person’s professional life, schooling, and his relationship with his friends. It can also lead to depression and alcohol abuse. For these reasons social phobia is a condition that must be treated.

Treatment of social phobia consists of drug therapy and therapy methods that lay emphasize on behavioural tasks. The success rate in the treatment of social phobia is high.