2023-10-13 10:30:39
Social anxiety is a anxiety disorder resembling a extreme fear of finding yourself in a distressing situation during which one might be observed, judged, embarrassed or humiliated by another person.
What is social phobia?
Social phobia is an anxiety disorder. We speak of a phobia when the anxiety is focused on a specific object, situation or activity which does not justify it. There are 3 types of phobias: simple phobia, agoraphobia and social phobia. It is characterized by “the fear of being observed and judged by others, or of being embarrassed or humiliated by one’s own actions. It manifests itself as an unreasonable fear of one or more social situations: fear of speaking in front of a group, of speaking to strangers, of eating in front of others, or even of going to school. In the latter case, we speak of school phobia.1.
Where does social phobia come from: causes and origin?
We do not know precisely what causes an individual to develop social anxiety. Different factors, neurobiological, educational, environmental and psychological, would come into play. A trauma experienced or the observation of a behavior in another individual could also cause the development of this extreme fear of being observed and judged by others.
It seems that if one member of a family suffers from social phobia, there is a greater chance that another member of that family will be affected by this disorder, than in a family where no one is affected.
Social phobia is similar to extreme shyness having a significant impact on social, family and professional life… Regarding the symptoms of this social disorder, a person who suffers from social phobia will tend to :
- Being terrified of saying or doing something that might cause others to judge her negatively,
- Avoid distressing situations where she must come into contact with other individuals,
- Be aware of your difficulties,
- Being ashamed of your anxiety disorders,
- Not having confidence in her.
She may also present with other psychological disorders such as agoraphobia (fear of the crowd), afraid of blushing in publica personality disorder… $Social anxiety concerns women more than men and begins, most often, in adolescence2.
How often when it comes to mental health and disorders, diagnosis of social phobia is not always obvious. However, there are tools to which the health professional can refer: the DSM IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – 4e edition), ICD-10 (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems – 10e revision), or even theLiebowitz social phobia scale3.
Is social phobia dangerous?
3% of the population suffer from a serious form of social phobia 10% would have a less severe form.
When social anxiety is left untreated, these symptoms worsen over time. In 60% of cases, social phobia leads to depression. It also often goes hand in hand with excessive consumption of substances with anxiolytic properties, such as alcohol.4 which can take the form of an addiction. There is a risk of suicide – around 40% – not to be neglected2.
The treatment of social anxiety generally combines 2 complementary therapies:
- a cognitive and behavioral therapy will seek to desensitize the patient towards the object of their fear and to help them better control their reactions.
- and medical treatment (mainly anxiolytics, beta blockers or certain antidepressants) may be considered to relieve symptoms of anxiety.
If the treatment is similar to that of other types of phobia, only social phobia can be the subject of in-depth treatment over several months.
1. Phobia, sante.fr.
2. Social phobias in psychiatry: clinical characteristics and treatment methods (Phoenix study), A. Pélissolo, C. Huron, F. Fanget, D. Servant, S. Stiti, C. Richard-Berthe, P. Boyer .
3. Social anxiety in patients with social phobia: validation of the Liebowitz social anxiety scale: the French version, SN Yao 1, I Note, F Caught, E Albuisson, M Bouvard, I Jalenques, J Cottraux.
4. Alcohol dependence and phobias: clinical description and relevance, Mullaney JA, Trippett CJ .The British Journal of psychiatry (1979).
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