What Are The Symptoms Of Social Anxiety Disorder

Social anxiety disorder is a disorder characterized by an intense fear in any social situation that results in some degree of impact on everyday life. It is a sort of social phobia and should not be confused by shyness.

Social Phobia Information

Social phobia information says that a person suffering from anxiety disorders will have physical manifestations to their fear of social situations. Psychologists have classified social phobia symptoms into three categories based on the kind of symptoms they manifest.

The first is cognitive where a person has a dread of making some kind of a mistake in a social setting. This dread is so intense that very often the person displaying social phobia symptoms will not only try and rehearse their behavior beforehand, they will also review their behavior after the event.

Symptoms Of Social Phobia

Although this may not actually be a symptom of social phobia, it becomes one when a person carries this on for weeks after the even has passed. In the event that he or she makes a what are the symptoms of an anxiety attack the dread actually overcomes them to such an extent that they will lose cognitive functions. They may stammer, not be able to walk properly, and may even have a panic attack.

The second is behavioral where a person with social phobia actively shuns any social event. When pushed against their will, they will manifest anything from blushing and sweating to nausea and actual vomiting.

There is also the psychological aspect to social phobia, with children weeping and throwing tantrums just to avoid social functions. Sometimes this phobia is so severe that people are so conscious about their walk that they walk in a very unnatural manner and so trip and fall.

Social phobia information is very sketchy because only recently was this disorder even recognized. Even now because the symptoms are very close to excessive shyness, it is a little difficult to diagnose this disorder.

Social Phobia Treatment

One of the best social phobia medication is not even a pill. It is psychotherapy where the person is gradually introduced to larger and larger social groups until they gain more confidence which in turn reduces their social phobia. Natural antidepressant supplements have also been found to be effective and are in fact prescribed to people with very severe symptoms.

Some people prefer to consume alcohol as a sort of social phobia medication. Psychologists agree that alcohol does in fact calm the person down and can work very well, sometimes better even than a natural antidepressant. The only problem with this is that when excess quantities of alcohol are consumed it may tend to increase the social phobia.

There are also other social phobia medication like MAOIs that have proven to be much more effective than even natural antidepressant pills. Yet a number of psychologists are not comfortable prescribing them because of the dangers of an overdose. MAOIs are very toxic when taken in overdose and a strict dietary regimen should also be adhered to if it is to have any effect.

There are various different degrees in social phobia, and most of the cases are children or men and women but under 25. Social phobia information for people above this age is very difficult to come by simply because of the very low number of people who have been diagnosed with it.