In certain situations most people get nervous or shy. However, social phobia is something more than the usual embarrassment. It leads to such an intensive fear of being ridiculed in social situations that one simply avoids them. In most cases it effectively makes life much more difficult. Meanwhile, symptoms of social phobia can be overcome.

What is social phobia?

Social anxiety disorder, otherwise known as phobia, involves intense fear of certain social situations – especially unfamiliar or those in which people can potentially observe and evaluate our behaviour.

These social situations may be so frightening that the mere thought of them causes anxiety. Social phobia develops on the foundation of fear of being judged or publicly humiliated. If you are suffering from this disorder you may often fear that other people think badly about you or that you can not match them. And even if you realize that these fears are at least partly irrational or exaggerated, nothing can help it. You still feel anxious.

Seemingly there is nothing you can do about the symptoms of social anxiety. But in fact you can do a lot. Before the fight, you must first know your enemy. So what is social phobia?

What factors trigger social anxiety?

It may seem to you that you are the only one who has this problem, however social phobia is fairly common phenomenon. Many people struggle with this type of anxiety. There is however variety of situations that cause anxiety symptoms.

Some people experience anxiety in most social situations and at all kinds of speeches. This kind of problem is defined as a generalized social anxiety disorder. For other people social phobia equals anxiety appearing in specific situations, such as talking to strangers, lunch in a restaurant, going to a party, socializing, and even writing in someone’s company.

These situations tend to be the most stressful for people with social anxiety disorder:

• Meeting new people
• Meeting on a date
• Giving public speech
• Talking with authorities / important people
• Being observed during task performance
• Eating or drinking in public
• Finding oneself in the spotlight
• Passing exams
• Keeping small talk
• Being mocked or criticized
• Using public toilets
• Making telephone call

Signs and symptoms of social phobia

The fact that you are sometimes nervous in social situations does not mean that you suffer from social phobia. Many people feel shy or embarrassed from time to time. This does not affect their daily functioning. Social phobia interferes in maintaining normal life and causes severe stress.

For example, it is perfectly natural to experience stage fright before the public appearance. But a person with social phobia begins to worry several weeks before the event, he will call to cancel the appearance saying he is ill or will be shaking so hard that he will not be able to utter a word.

Emotional symptoms of social phobia include:

• Excessive embarrassment and anxiety in everyday social situations
• Worrying about upcoming social event for the days, weeks or even months before it happens
• Extreme fear of being watched and judged, especially by strangers
• Fear of behaviour that could expose to ridicule (eg. vomiting or urinating in public)
• Fear that someone might notice symptoms of anxiety

Physical symptoms of social phobia include:

• Redness or blushing
• Shortness of breath
• Diarrhoea or vomiting (prior to the event)
• Tremor as well as trembling voice
• Rapid heartbeat or chest tightness
• Sweating, hot flushes
• Dizziness and fainting

Behavioural symptoms of social phobia include:

• Avoiding social situations to such an extent that it makes life difficult
• Refraining from talking and standing on the sidelines to avoid being noticed and ashamed
• Avoiding going anywhere without someone well known
• Drinking alcohol in social situations (can lead to alcoholism)

Social phobia and now what?

You can take various steps to cope with social anxiety disorder. Start internal dialogue with your negative thoughts, master relaxation techniques or confront your own fears. Some lifestyle changes might be advisable as well, eg. reducing caffeine or nicotine, ensure a sufficient amount of sleep. I describe these methods in a separate article. Of all the professional approaches to the treatment of social phobia, the most effective proved to be cognitive – behavioural therapy. It is based on the assumption that our thoughts, emotions, physical responses and behaviours are all strongly connected. So it is not possible to change emotions at will, however it is possible to change the way of thinking and therefore alter emotions. It means that changing the way of thinking about social situations should lead to improvement. And that is something therapy can help you with.