What is the psychological treatment of social phobia?

We talk about how social phobia is treated in psychotherapy.

We are all susceptible to feeling more or less shy in social situations. Especially those who are prone to shyness will experience moments that may cause them some embarrassment when it comes to interacting with others, but there are more extreme cases.

Let's see what social phobia is and how it is treated.Social phobia, which has to do with an intense fear of social interactions.

The keys to understanding what social phobia is

Social phobia is linked to an intense and disproportionate anxiety reaction to social situations, which can lead to anxiety attacks and anxiety attacks.It can provoke anxiety crises and lead to low self-esteem, low mood and avoidance of social situations. Over time this can lead to serious impairments and limitations in daily life.

The person suffering from social phobia knows that his or her fear is disproportionate, but cannot help but be driven by fear even though they know it is irrational..

Like any phobia, the physiological reaction of anxiety is so strong that it is initially difficult to face the feared social situations without running away, even when adjusting one's thinking and trying to rationalize.

Symptoms

These are the main symptoms of social phobia, to be taken into account in its psychological treatment.

Physical symptoms

The physical symptoms of social phobia are basically the symptoms of the anxiety crisis, and appear in the feared situation and even when thinking about it:

• Tachycardia.
• Hyperventilation.
• Stuttering or slurred speech.
• Cold sweats and usually in hands.
• Tremors.
• Flushing.
• Muscle tension, nausea, etc.

Cognitive symptoms

Predominantly thoughts related to fear of being disqualified, not being liked or feeling humiliated, which denote low self-esteem:

• Personalization distortions: believing that everything others think is negative and is about you.
• Guessing thinking distortion.type: "I'm sure if I go to the party I'll get rejected", "I'm sure I'll turn red", "I'm sure I'll stutter and they'll laugh at me".
• Thought reading thought distortion: "they don't want me to go", "they think I'm boring", "I'm sure they think I'm badly dressed".
• Generalization distortion: "if I fail an exam it's because I'm doing everything wrong", "if I have few friends it means I'm a bad friend".
• Catastrophic and extremely negative and extremely negative thoughts.

Behavioral symptoms

In the face of this intense fear of relating to others, the person with social phobia has a tendency to avoid social situations such as asking for information, asking questions in public, participating in conversations, going to meetings, etc.

Avoidance will be greater the less control one feels over the situation. Thus, avoidance will be greater the more people there are at a social gathering.

The person with social phobia may have high anxiety in a group of two or three people, but it will be much more intense the larger the group is. the larger the group, the more intense the anxiety will be.Therefore, he/she will always try to relate to only one person because he/she considers it more controllable and less risky.

What is the treatment of social phobia?

In therapy it is common to see people suffering from social phobia. Nowadays, social networks and the virtual world also make it easier to avoid relationships, so they can live for a long time without facing their fear.

Suffering is high and frustration, low self-esteem, sadness and feelings of hopelessness. are some of the emotional symptoms they suffer from. For our team of psychologists these are the most urgent symptoms to treat, in addition to the progressive exposure to social situations in the most controlled way possible, so that social relationships are considered safe spaces.

The treatment from cognitive-behavioral psychology has proven to be very positive and efficient, as well as third party therapies.as well as the third generation therapies of acceptance and commitment.

During therapy, special importance is given to how the interaction with others is interpretedlearning to adjust one's thinking when it is very negative. It is very important to recognize the cognitive distortions that provoke emotions of shame or intense fear that lead to avoidance, in order to learn to think in an adjusted and realistic way.

Going deeper into the causes is also part of the therapy, so it is important to de-traumatize old situations that still weigh to unblock at an emotional level.

It is essential to reestablish self-esteem and confidence, reinforcing the patient's capacities while at the same time training in progressive exposure to social situations, unhurriedly and with less and less stress.without haste and from less to more coping level. With all this, the aim is to improve the patient's mood as achievements are made and self-perception improves.

It is also essential to work on social skills; to relativize the opinion of others and not give them so much power; to lose the fear of conflict by learning to get angry and express opinions, rights or needs in an assertive way; to be aware that we cannot meet all the expectations of others. to be loved and to learn not to take responsibility for everything for fear of being angry or judged.

Causes

Social phobia usually has its origin in more or less traumatic situations, happened normally in early stages, mainly in adolescenceThe causes of social phobia are usually related to social situations that are experienced as unpleasant or humiliating.

A bad experience in class speaking in public, feeling that others laugh every time you speak, having made a mistake in front of others, having felt judged or criticized... are some of the examples of possible triggers of social phobia.

To this is added a certain susceptibility due to fear of criticism, fear of being judged, fear of conflict, an excessive need for approval and an excessive need to be approved by others.An excessive need for approval and the need to be liked and a tendency to internal attributions or to feel responsible for everything.

It may also be influenced by having grown up in family environments where personal disqualification has been abused without fostering good self-esteem or, on the contrary, where social relationships have hardly been developed due to an excess of protection.

Social phobia usually occurs at an early age (Kendler et al, 1992) and the appearance of other possible disorders usually follows the development of this disorder; this is why at Avance Psicólogos we are aware that early detection and treatment is essential.

Bibliographical references:

• Cervera Enguix, S., Roca Bennasar, M., Bobes García, J. (1999). Social Phobia. Barcelona: Masson.
• DSM V. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
• Olivares Rodríguez. J., Alcázar, A.I.R. and García, L.J. (2004). Social Phobia in adolescence: the fear of relating and acting in front of others. Madrid: Ojos Solares.