Social phobias include a whole group of phobias associated with public actions or communication. This could be a fear of speaking or other situations where a person is the center of attention, a fear of large crowds of people, fears associated with public evaluation, which include the fear of looking ridiculous or funny.
A person may be afraid of attention from other people, for example, experience severe discomfort in cases where they have to use a public toilet or eat in the company of other people. Social phobia can also manifest as excessive shyness when interacting with strangers or people of the opposite sex.
Social phobia is an anxiety disorder. If a person finds himself in a frightening situation, symptoms such as sweating, rapid heartbeat, flushing of the face, difficulty breathing, etc. may be observed.
When does social phobia develop?
Most often, a phobia begins to form in adolescence or adolescence, when the child faces various social difficulties. Teenagers are very dependent on public opinion. During this period, the fear of “being different from everyone else” intensifies, a craving for communication with the opposite sex appears, and with it the fear of being rejected. Public activities (reports, speeches, etc.) give rise to the fear of being worse than everyone else, of seeming funny, stupid or ridiculous. If the situation is unfavorable for the child, then fears are reinforced and transferred into adulthood.
Unfortunately, many people simply have not heard of such a disease as social phobia. They explain their conditions by excessive shyness and personal characteristics.
Who are social phobics and how can we help them?
Date of publication: 08/12/2020 Articles
Social phobia is an unmotivated fear of doing things that involve attention from others, such as speaking in public. Social phobia includes the fear of being invited to eating places, public toilets, the inability to do anything while being observed from the outside, or even simply the fear of communicating with strangers and people of the opposite sex. Social phobia is part of the group of anxiety-phobic disorders.
A person suffering from social phobia fears negative evaluations from others and avoids the possibility of being the center of attention.
In its manifestations, social phobia resembles panic disorder, differing mainly in the presence of a clear and stable situational cause or social situation that triggers the entire cascade of negative experiences. In its most acute form, a social phobia person may experience something similar to a panic attack (redness of the face, rapid heartbeat, sweating, trembling hands, difficulty breathing).
A person suffering from social phobia finds it difficult to live in modern society, interact with people and work.
The prevalence of social phobia among the population varies from 3 to 13% . However, patients suffering from social phobia come to the attention of psychiatrists relatively rarely. Only 5% of patients with uncomplicated social phobias receive specialized help. Most often, those suffering from this disorder, when visiting a doctor, focus on the symptoms accompanying the phobia, and not on the phobia itself. Among the patients who do not come to the attention of doctors, there are many whose symptoms are invisible to others. This way, you may not realize that your friend, relative or colleague suffers from social anxiety.
Social phobia usually first appears in adolescence and young adulthood. Its development can be triggered by situations such as answering at the blackboard, passing exams, performing on stage, or contact with certain people (teachers, educators, examiners, law enforcement officials). Communication with relatives and close friends usually does not cause fear in a teenager.
Social phobes are almost always characterized by anxiety in anticipation of unfavorable situations and an attempt to avoid them.
You shouldn’t immediately diagnose yourself with “social phobia” just because you, for example, don’t like speaking in public. Fear of public speaking also occurs in healthy people; this is a variant of the norm. A diagnosis of social phobia is made only if anxiety causes significant discomfort, and phobic experiences are assessed as excessive and unreasonable.
Social phobias are often combined with depression, as well as with other anxiety-phobic disorders (simple phobias, agoraphobia, panic disorder), affective pathology, alcoholism, drug addiction, and eating disorders. Combinations of any other mental disorder and social phobia worsen the prognosis of the disease.
If you experience the symptoms described in the material, seek help from a psychologist or psychiatrist. Or call the helpline
The material was prepared
by the Stavropol Psychiatric Hospital based on information from the National Center for Mental Health ( https://www.psychiatry.ru
)
Read our other articles
Watch and read us on social networks
The illustration for this publication was taken from the public image library https://www.freepik.com/ and from open sources.
You can read in detail about using illustrations from the Freepik library here
Why is social phobia dangerous?
If social phobia is not treated, the patient’s condition may worsen over the years, leading to serious impairments in social adaptation, including loss of ability to work. Social phobia is often accompanied by depression and decreased self-esteem. People suffering from social phobias often seek solace in alcohol or drugs, and cases of eating disorders are common. Social phobia, especially in combination with other mental disorders, leads to complete isolation of a person and increases the risk of suicide attempts.
In 90% of cases, social phobia is cured using various psychotherapeutic methods.
If necessary, along with psychotherapy, medications are used. You shouldn’t self-medicate or give up - just make an appointment with a specialist .
A psychotherapist will help you cope with your problem and select effective treatment methods. You will definitely cope with your fears and gain self-confidence.
Fear, pain and isolation: where does social phobia come from and what to do about it
People with social phobia are often convinced that they are the center of attention, that everyone is looking at them and evaluating them. This is my myth: I thought that I was the center of the earth. In fact, people don’t care, they are in their own processes. If a person thinks that all attention is directed to him, this is his own projection. But if you simply tell a social phobe: “But this is how it really is,” he will not believe it, because he will be confident in his point of view. In the process of working on himself and communicating with other people, he needs to discover this - that people, by and large, don’t care what happens to him.
I talked with psychologists about this topic. For some reason, they believe that the statement “they don’t really care about you” is the very saving pill that they should let go of all worries. But in fact, this is an argument at the level of “don’t worry” and “everything will be fine.”
Firstly, the statement that “they don’t care about you” is too absolute. If someone falls into the field of someone’s attention, then the observer in any case, even in passing, even unconsciously, even reprehensibly and primarily, builds an opinion about the object. This opinion depends on many factors. Many are beyond our control—the observer’s mood, circumstances. But we can influence others - our appearance, our behavior. Anxiety arises precisely because of factors under our control. We tend to exaggerate their importance, that's true. But leveling them out with the assertion that they don’t care about us rather causes a feeling of one’s own insignificance and uselessness. This is unlikely to be an appropriate target for therapy. From my own experience, the most productive thing to do is to work on what is actually under control - tidying up your appearance, working on your manners, etc. Self-confidence is very important in social communications. It can naturally be built only on what is under our control.
Secondly, social phobics actually crave attention. Otherwise there would be no problem and no phobia. Well, they would be hermits and live their own lives. But the problem is that at the same time they are afraid of attention. Or rather, the negative part of it: condemnation and rejection. Even purely theoretical, even just the possibility that someone could think badly. Social phobes always consider the situation in its worst development, just so as not to be too upset if it happens, but just think “well, I expected this.” Eventually it becomes a habit, and it seems that everyone always thinks badly. Here it is worth working with the idea that no one can ever please everyone at once, and focusing on those moments when someone definitely thought well. But instead, the person receives the answer that no matter how hard he tries, “no one cares about him.” Isn't it a shame?
I understand that psychologists work according to methods. But this is still an area in which it is simply necessary to dive at least a little deeper, to show human understanding and empathy. Mechanically, it is impossible to help with logical arguments. We are not all that stupid, and we ourselves came to obvious ideas like “no one cares,” but rejected them. And not because we have problems, but because these statements have little connection with reality.
Fear of fat people
Fear of fat people
- As you probably already understood, modern people are quite susceptible to various phobias. Moreover, some of us look for a problem where others cannot see it. For example, some people, for no apparent reason, develop a fear of overweight men and women. Most often this is manifested by internal discomfort, disgust and reluctance to come into contact with a person who is overweight.
- Now let's figure out what this phobia is based on. Since childhood, we have been forced to believe that only a thin and fit person can be considered beautiful. Therefore, if we see an obese person in front of us, it immediately causes negative emotions in us. Mentally healthy people calm down immediately after moving away from the object of irritation.
- Those same men and women who do not have a completely stable psyche, as a rule, become fixated on this and begin to avoid fat people. As for how to get rid of this problem, this can be done with the right attitude. You must remember that fatness is not transmitted by touching, hugging or kissing, so if you talk to a plump woman or just look into her eyes, then your weight will definitely not increase.
Fear of red-haired people
Fear of red-haired people
Fear of red-haired people is nothing more than gingerphobia. In this case, a person develops panic fear simply because he sees red hair. The most interesting thing is that due to strong fear, the patient may not even understand the man or woman in front of him. The only thought of a person susceptible to such a disease is the desire to distance himself as quickly as possible from the source of irritation. Psychologists have not been able to fully determine what is causing this problem.
Some argue that this is due to the bright color of the hair, others say that the reason is the behavioral characteristics of red-haired people. But in order not to provoke this phobia, you must remember one thing - this disorder, like any other, requires immediate correction. Proper therapy will prevent the disease from getting worse and will relieve you of the problem in the shortest possible time. If you do not treat gingerphobia, it will develop into gingerism and then, along with fear, you will have a desire to cause some harm to the red-haired person.
Manifestations of fear of communication
Recognizing the fear of communicating with people is quite easy. To do this, you just need to pay attention to your own behavior or the behavior of your relative or friend. It is difficult not to notice this, because social ill-being is striking. Let's take a closer look at ways of expressing fear.
Shyness
When an individual suffers from social phobia, this is necessarily expressed through shyness. A guy or girl can be so timid that it's really hard to imagine. They refuse not only to participate in public life, but to at least somehow express their position. For such people, defending an individual opinion is generally akin to a real feat. Shyness hinders self-realization and prevents the identification and development of strong character traits. It is worth noting that everyone has positive traits, but not everyone is ready to make certain efforts for their own development. If you have a habit of being shy, it means that it will be difficult for you to show your individuality in any matter.
Feeling isolated from the world
When we are afraid to communicate with the world, a feeling of isolation and isolation from the people around us arises. It seems to a person that he is alone in the whole world, and no one can help him solve the problem. This happens for the reason that a person unconsciously isolates himself. Having gotten used to refusing the help of others, he no longer hopes for them in the future. He makes it clear that he does not want to contact the world in any way due to his mistrust. Fear greatly limits him and makes him begin to doubt himself. The feeling of being cut off from the world is dangerous because it teaches a person to consider himself a victim in any situation. A person stops fighting and relies entirely on the fact that those around him will someday notice and understand him. Of course, this is a deliberately flawed approach that yields nothing but severe disappointment. The more a person withdraws into himself, the more difficult it becomes to find a decent way out of the situation.
Feeling exclusive
A person who is afraid of people gets used to considering himself an exceptional creature. He cultivates the behavior of a victim, and therefore does not want to change his rules and attitudes. It often seems to such people that everyone is unfairly offending them. They may complain to others about misunderstanding or pretend that they were wronged in vain. Such a person gets used to considering himself a misunderstood genius, a victim of the universe. It doesn’t occur to him to start analyzing his actions and actions. After all, it becomes much easier to blame others for your failures. The feeling of exclusivity is a derivative of arrogance and pride. It’s just that the fear of interacting with others is so strong that it does not allow them to take tentative steps towards the desired result. The individual does not make any attempts to feel better, to free himself from oppressive experiences.
Low self-esteem
A person who suffers from a fear of communication does not know how to value himself. He does not understand that he also has his own strengths, like everyone else around him. Rather, there is a fear of receiving social disapproval, of being misunderstood and condemned. Often such individuals do not pay any attention to their talents and do not develop their existing abilities. They feel that their own skills mean nothing and are worthless. Low self-esteem does not allow you to identify your best character traits and somehow express your talents. The personality is overly focused on its own shortcomings, it lacks the courage to start moving forward. Finding himself in such a situation, a person always finds weighty arguments to somehow justify his inaction: bad luck in life, no opportunities and talents. In fact, there are no aspirations and healthy ambitions. Such an individual does not know what he wants to achieve in life and does not know how to cope with even the most basic tasks. It soon turns out that there is absolutely no one to try for: there are no friends, close relatives do not always understand and do not share his experiences. Low self-esteem is always the result of an incorrect attitude towards life, the people around you and yourself.
Avoidance of social contacts
Fear of social interaction often forces an individual to avoid all contact. He begins to simply avoid people, fearing that they will cause him great mental pain and make him experience colossal disappointment. A person may not leave the house for weeks, closing himself off from everyone and everything within four walls. This line of behavior is due to the fear of disappointment. Avoiding social contacts does not lead to the formation of trust; rather, on the contrary, it scares people away. People around him begin to perceive such a person as abnormal, avoiding normal communication. The greater the mistrust, the greater the gap between the individual and the outside world becomes. The person becomes even more affirmed in his exclusivity and finally becomes locked in on the problem.
Fear of public speaking
It is impossible to get rid of the fear of communication if a person does not make any attempts to somehow work on himself. Personal development cannot be carried out without conscious desire. When there is a pronounced fear of communication, there is no opportunity to speak in public. The individual is seized with such panic that he has hardly ever experienced before. Under any pretext, he will refuse the opportunity to express himself and express his own feelings. Fear of public speaking greatly limits personal development. As a result, a person generally ceases to understand what he needs from life.
How to overcome fear of people - social phobia: reviews of a clinic for the treatment of depression and phobias
Reviews about the clinic for the treatment of depression and phobias
Elena: Back in school, I realized that I felt discomfort if more than 5 people gathered near me. As a child, I tried to tell my mother about my problem, but she did not take it seriously, believing that in this way I was just trying to skip classes. Therefore, I had to live with my fear of people until I reached a conscious age.
Having already gotten married, I turned to a psychologist, and he helped me deal with what was bothering me. I attended five group sessions and at the moment I feel quite calm even in the presence of a huge crowd of people.
Evgeniya : Several years ago I had serious health problems, which I successfully solved through surgery. Everything went well, I recovered quickly, but literally after being discharged I had a panicky fear that my household would again infect me with some kind of disease.
At the slightest ailment, I ran to the doctor, and having received good tests, I blew the minds of both him and my family. As a result, the doctor himself suggested that I undergo examination by a psychotherapist. After completing it, I found out that I had developed cancer phobia, so I had to undergo a course of therapeutic therapy.
