Social Anxiety

The world around us is diversified and full of stimuli, some of which lead us to respond with happiness and laughter, but some of the other stimuli make us fearful, angry and depressed.

Most of the time we are surrounded by people belonging to our social circles and frequently by people we do not know at all. Sometimes, even the society around us can trigger fears and anxieties in certain situations and such anxiety may be very limiting and even lead the person to be closed up in the house, to avoid a situation that will lead to a possible anxiety attack. The following article will help you understand what social anxiety actually is, what are its causes, and how it can be treated quickly and efficiently, without taking medications, having to discuss it, and without side effects.

What is social anxiety?

Social anxiety, also known as SAD is characterized by an exaggerated fear of criticism, of other people’s judgment, or of rejection. Those who suffer from it experience constant fear of public embarrassment or humiliation, as a result of their behavior.

Many people may fear the response of people in their society in certain situations, but the fear experienced by a person who suffers from social anxiety is immeasurably greater and it prevents this person from performing routine actions or makes those actions more difficult to perform. This may even result in avoiding certain social situations that are known as having the potential to lead to anxiety attacks. Adults who are well aware of the fact that their anxiety has no logical basis, cannot overcome it, cannot control their behavior, or ignore their exaggerated feelings. Social anxiety is a combination of several anxieties, including public fear, stage fright, fear of couple relationships, fear of authoritative people, etc.

The symptoms of social anxiety

There are certain physiological and emotional symptoms that people who suffer from this anxiety typically experience. The following are the more prominent ones:

• Over-perspiration.
• Accelerated heart rate.
• Upset stomach.
• Diarrhea.
• Tremors.
• Confusion.
• A blushing face which sometimes extends to the whole body.
• Over-sensitivity to criticism and rejection.
• Difficulty expressing oneself.
• Having low self-esteem.
• Fear of new places and of meeting new people.
• Fear of being in social situations/public places.
• Fear of performing different activities in public (such as eating, drinking, talking, presenting, etc.).
• Exaggerated shyness.
• Avoiding frightening situations.

Causes

We should avoid determining that social anxiety is caused by one factor. It seems that it results from a combination of several factors acting simultaneously. A combination of the following factors is likely to lead to the development of this kind of anxiety:

• Chronic stress.
• Chronic repressed anger.
• The kind of education and the conditions in which a person was raised.
• Feelings of guilt.
• Lack of confidence.
• Dependency.
• A traumatic social experience.