There are shy people. And there are people who are totally incapable of attending a social event, speaking in public or presenting a project at work. We are facing anxiety or social phobia, one of the manifestations of anxiety that can affect us the most in our lives by canceling any type of relationship with others.
What is social anxiety?
Social anxiety is one of the types of anxiety. It is a disorder in which the person with social phobia avoids any situation that they consider stressful. From public speaking to attending a party with friends. The causes of this social anxiety are unknown, but it is a disorder that is closely related to a lack of self-esteem and insecurity.
Fear, insecurity, shame , anguish and, finally, inability are the effects of social anxiety. A person who suffers from social anxiety is afraid of making a fool of him, of stammering when speaking, of being judged or criticized by other people, of others seeing that she cannot control her nerves, or that she is starting to sweat. Fear of saying something inappropriate or uninteresting. Fear of being observed.
With these fears in mind, the person with social phobia will avoid exposing themselves to any stressful situation. He can’t speak in public, which can hurt his work. She cannot attend meetings with friends, for fear of being watched and ridiculed, which can end up isolating her socially. She can’t lead a healthy love life either, because her insecurity makes it impossible for her to meet new people.
How to treat social phobia?
Taking into account that we are not talking about shyness but an emotional disorder, social anxiety requires behavior modification, psychological treatment and support groups are also very useful. The therapy to overcome social phobia is based on physical and imaginary exposure to stressful situations. But above all, they work on the acquisition of social skills to gain security.
Social skills focus on speaking in public, but also on expressing desires or feelings, starting conversations, defending one’s rights, asking for and accepting favors, and saying “no”. A step further in this learning of social skills leads us to make our personal opinion heard, to express disagreement with someone or even anger, and to face criticism.
Psychological therapy to treat social anxiety takes time, but little by little the symptoms will reduce until they disappear. Less difficulty swallowing, less breathing, less stuttering, less sweating and less tremors. Until completing the treatment in which the objective is to acquire security in social relationships.
