Recognizing the Symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder?

Everyone experiences anxiety; sometimes it comesself-medication.
from stress for justifiable causes the fear of theSocial phobics have a difficult time working with normal
unknown. In other cases, it's more chronic, andsocial lives. They are overly self-conscious, and they
persistent, and manifests as a mental illness: Socialplace too much attention (and criticism) upon
Anxiety Disorder. This condition manifests as fear, orthemselves, when it comes to attempting any activity.
worry, or apprehension at a heightened level. It can beThey abound in negativity.
directly confirmed if the subject is easily embarrassed,Their fear can be crippling, as it is persistent and all
or terrified of practically any social situation.pervasive, and often completely out of line with the
Some cases of social anxiety disorder are tied tothing they're responding to. It can cause them to be
public speaking. Now, it's normal even for trainedshut-ins; they're so afraid of being scrutinized by others,
speakers to have a bit of stage fright before going onthat they don't date, or go out with friends, eat out at
to give a presentation. However, for someone withrestaurants, or even attend parties where they might
social anxiety disorder, the experience is heightened,have to talk to a stranger. In children, social anxiety
and not in a good way. The date of the presentationdisorder shows up as shyness, clinging to parents, and
or speaking engagement becomes filled withcrying. In adults, it's sweating, and flushing and
foreboding, often times for days or weeks in advance.stammering. All of these make a self-reinforcing cycle
A lot of social anxiety disorder can be described as awhen the subject is exposed to social activities.
fear response completely disproportional to theWhat are the treatments for Social Anxiety Disorder?
anticipated stimulus.Social anxiety disorder can be treated, and treated
Another name for social anxiety disorder is socialeffectively. The usual treatment is a mixture of
phobia; the phobia is a category for long lasting stress,medication and psychotherapy. Cognitive behavior
fear and anxiety, to the degree that it makes it difficulttherapy, done individually or in group sessions, can be
for the patient to function in normal daily activities. It isan effective remedy. The behavioral and cognitive
often triggered by extreme stress, or repeated highcomponents search for thought patterns that can be
stress actions, and results in a recursive loop whereadjusted, in effect, identifying the triggers so that the
the subject dwells upon and scrutinizes their activitiessubject can learn to avoid the triggers without avoiding
and anxieties, at the expense of going out and doingtheir life.
anything. Somewhere around 13% of Americans haveThe most common prescription medication for social
suffered from social anxiety disorder during their lives.anxiety disorder is the anti-depressent Paxil and the
A person suffering a panic attack shows a number ofrelated compound Welbutrin. As the frequency of
common signs. These include, but are not limited to,diagnosis has increased since it was added to the
blushing, sweating, nausea, trembling and stammering.lexicon in the late 1990s, the marketing of drugs to
It's better to get a diagnosis early, as this can helptreat it has increased tremendously. Both Paxil and
stave off transitions of the syndrome to greaterWelbutrin are anti-depressants of the selective
problems, like depression, or dysthemia. Someseratonin reuptake-inhibitors, or SSRIs, which have the
sufferers of social anxiety disorder self medicate,benefit of not causing physical dependency, though it
trying to numb themselves to their fear with alcohol, ortakes a habituation cycle for them to become
using stimulants like cocaine or amphetamines to "jolteffective. SSRIs have side effects such as insomnia,
them over the top" and boost confidence. Even largeheadaches and nausea. Many SSRIs will put a
doses of caffeine can be seen as an attempt atsignificant damper on sexual interest.