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

Shyness, isolation and lack of social skills can lead to Social Phobia.

Do you feel extremely embarrassed when talking to people you don't know? Do you feel very insecure around people most of the time? Do you feel very uncomfortable talking in public? Do these fears make it very difficult for you to carry out your daily tasks or talk to other people at work or school?

If this happens to you often, you may be suffering from an 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 published in the Journal Pediatrics in 2011, 50 percent of adolescents suffer from shyness, 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 with social phobia feels extreme anxiety about being judged by others, being the center of attention, the idea of being criticized by other individuals, and even talking on the phone with other people.

Social phobics are aware that they should not feel so bad in triggering situations, but are unable to control their fear and anxiety. In addition, they tend to avoid the situations that provoke the symptomatology of this disorder, as they are unable to bear the discomfort.

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

Causes

Social phobia usually begins during adolescenceIt is common that people who suffer from it do not seek help until ten years after presenting symptoms. Like most phobias, the environment plays a determining role in its learning.

Although some research indicates that social phobia may be due to a mismatch of neurotransmitters in the neurotransmitter system. mismatch of neurotransmitters (especially serotonin), past traumatic experiences, growing 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, as individuals suffering from social phobia present anxious symptoms and extreme fear in everyday social situations. They think that they are watched and judged by everyone.They feel very ashamed when they do things wrong. The fear and anxiety they feel is so intense that it interferes with their work, school and other day-to-day activities.

In addition, other symptoms of social phobia include:

• Blushing (Erythrophobia)
• Difficulty speaking
• Nausea
• Profuse sweating
• Tremors

As mentioned above, people with this type of phobia tend to avoid the situations tend to avoid the situations that may provoke the discomfort and symptoms described above.. Among these situations are:

• Attending parties and other social gatherings
• Eating, drinking and writing in public
• Meeting new people
• Speaking in public
• Using public restrooms

Treatment

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

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

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

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

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

Bibliographical references:

• Bravo, M. A. 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: Debates, future research, and clinical implications. In M. G. Craske, D. Hermans y Vansteenwegen (Eds.), Miedos y fobias: de los procesos básicos a las implicaciones clínicas (pp. 257-264). México: Manual Moderno.
• Torgrud, L. J., Walker, J. R., Murray, L., Cox, B. J., Chartier, M. y Kjernisted, K. D. (2004). Deficits in perceived social support associated with generalized social phobia. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 33(2), 87–96.