Every person feels a bit uncomfortable with unknown people. Facing new social situations makes all of us nervous. Giving presentations, delivering speeches can make you anxious. But after talking to the people or delivering a speech a few times; you become comfortable. But people with social phobia always feel nervous in every social situation. Their anxiety becomes too much to handle. For example, a person gets anxious in a new social situation, but a person with social phobia faces anxiety in every social situation. A situation that seems normal to you can become a huge discomfort to the person with social anxiety. This is not a life-threatening condition but can surely make your life difficult. A person with social phobia performs poorly in school, university, or job.
What can cause social phobia?
The exact cause of the social phobia is unknown. But according to some research, a person can get social anxiety due to some genetics and environmental factors. Any type of negative experience can cause a social phobia. Common causes of social phobia are:
Bullying
Any type of bullying can cause a social phobia. If a kid gets often bullied in school then he might get a phobia and start avoiding all social situations.
Family conflict
Kids who face family conflicts like divorce or any other family situation can get social phobia. Those situations create a negative image in their mind.
Sexual abuse
One of the major causes of social anxiety or any mental disorder is sexual abuse. The person starts feeling uncomfortable with every unknown or less-known person.
Emotional abuse
Any kind of emotional abuse like relationship abuse can lead to social anxiety disorder.
Other than these situations, some physical abnormalities like serotonin imbalance can also cause a social phobia. Serotonin is a brain chemical that maintains a person’s mood. Your overactive amygdala can also lead to social anxiety. Some research shows that anxiety can run in families, but there is no definite cause. It may occur due to the behavior a child sees at home. If any parent has social phobia, the kid will see the behavior at home and may learn the same behavior. Many children also develop social phobia under strict parents or in overprotective environments.
Common symptoms of social phobia disorder
Physical symptoms of social phobia
- Nausea
- Blushing
- Shaking
- Stammering
- Dizziness
- Rapid heart rate
- Sweating
Psychological symptoms of social phobia
- Worrying over every social situation
- Start thinking for days before an event
- Avoiding every social situation
- Feeling embarrassed
- Worrying about what people think about him
- Drink alcohol to face social situations
- Avoid school sports or annual functions
Getting a bit nervous about any social situation is normal. But when a person has a social phobia, he feels like people will judge or humiliate him. Due to the phobia, he starts avoiding all social situations such as gatherings, shopping, job interviews, public restrooms, restaurants, etc. Sometimes talking to an unknown person on the phone like ordering some food seems difficult. However, the symptoms of social phobia depend on person to person.
How does social phobia affect your life?
Living with social phobia is like not living your life. Things that look normal to others may become a huge difficulty to people with social anxiety. Due to this condition, they not only avoid social situations but also perform poorly in life. Many things get affected by social phobia such as relationships. A person with social phobia may also get depression, negative thoughts, low self-esteem, feeling criticized, poor social skills, etc.
How to treat social phobia disorder?
Lots of treatments are available to fix social phobia disorder. The treatments differ from person to person. You can use medications to reduce anxiety symptoms. But for complete treatment, you should consider therapies.
Medications
You can take prescribed medications to manage social anxiety. These medicines are helpful in coping with social situations. When a person takes these medicines, he will get fewer social phobia symptoms. A person is supposed to take the medicine before any social situation. After taking the meds, a person feels better and can perform well. But these medications can’t fix your condition permanently. Taking medicines can become an addiction that can cause more damage to your mental health. When a person runs out of medicines, he will feel more anxious. Another demerit of using medicines is they may cause harmful side effects like stomach ache, headache, nausea, sleep difficulties.
Natural medications
Some natural medicine treatments are also available to treat social phobia. With a social phobia treatment Pennsylvania, you can deal with social situations confidently. A person may have to take some of the medicines daily. These medicines help to reduce the factors that can cause social phobia symptoms. Some research shows that proper natural medication may fix your social phobia permanently.
Behavioral therapy
In this therapy, a trained therapist helps in identifying the causes, triggers of your social phobia. He works with the person to change their way of thinking. This is a type of exposure therapy where your therapist treats the social phobia by exposing you to social situations. He won’t ask you to go to any big social gathering directly. The therapist will start with small social situations like libraries or coffee houses. He may ask the person to order some food or talk to the staff. These situations will feel uncomfortable for some time. Your therapist will only move to the next step if you are able to deal with previous situations. This therapy may take lots of time, say months or even a few years. But if you want to fix your social phobia, behavioral therapy is the best treatment.
Parental therapy
This is a therapy where the parents and the kid with social phobia work together. If you see any symptoms of social phobia in your kids, you must talk to a therapist. The therapist will tell you ways to reduce the symptoms. You may also have to change your parenting style. Treating social phobia at a younger age can help the kid to live his life confidently.