Social Phobia/Social Anxiety Disorder

Social anxiety disorder is often times under-diagnosed and under-treated. Much of the literature suggests that symptoms of social anxiety disorder develop/appear in middle childhood or early adolescence. These symptoms tend to persist into adulthood if the individual doesn’t seek treatment. Research by Turner, Beidel & Wolff 1996, suggests that people with anxiety disorder are more likely to have severe shyness as well. People with social anxiety also typically have other mental illness concerns, such as other anxiety disorders, bulimia, depression, substance use disorder, and certain personality disorders.

 Fortunately, over the past decade there has been an immense amount of research devoted to the topic. Morreale, Tancer, and Uhde 2010 highlighted some of the clinical points derived from recent literature. These points include: There are some indication of a genetic predisposition for social anxiety disorder; when exposed to anxiety provoking situations, social anxious people have overactive amygdala activation as compared to others diagnosed with an anxiety disorder; social anxious people have a different autonomic response as compared to those diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder; and socially anxious people tend to have more negative feelings of themselves as compared to patients diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is an effective treatment model for treating social anxiety disorder. Client’s will learn how to manage their thoughts and behaviours. Most patients will benefit from learning social skills training to help manage their anxieties. Promoting acceptance is important when working with individuals with social anxiety disorder. Patients will learn to observe situations differently when approached with a social situation, establish a healthy relationship with social situations and the discomfort felt, and develop a relaxation response to reduce distress in anxiety provoking situations.