Posts Tagged ‘social phobia’

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What is an Anxiety Disorder?

August 1st, 2010

Anxiety disorders come in a variety of different forms, but, generally, they all have similar symptoms. The most common symptoms are a phobia or nervous condition that can keep a usually healthy and happy person from pursuing a normal lifestyle. Anxiety disorders can either come about suddenly or may slowly get worse over a number of years before becoming disabling to the sufferer.

Some of the disorders that fall under this category include:
·Panic attacks,
·Agoraphobia,
·Social phobia,
·Specific phobias or fears of certain things that are harmless,
·Generalized anxiety disorders
·Obsessive compulsive disorder,
·Post traumatic disorders

All anxiety disorders keep sufferers from leading normal productive lives, and in chronic cases can disable the sufferer completely. Anxiety disorders can either begin at an early age or be triggered by a specific event in the sufferer’s life. An anxiety attack is likely to take place when the sufferer is under a lot of stress.

There are a few different therapies that can be used to reduce the effects of an anxiety disorder. Medications for chronic sufferers can be anti-depressants, benzodiazepines and Quetiapine. There are also natural drug free therapies that can be used alone or with pharmaceutical drugs. These therapies include counseling and behavioral modification therapies.

There are also support groups available. These can be very effective when coping with an anxiety disorder. A group environment will help a sufferer feel that they are not alone and provide the opportunity to share their ups and downs with other people that are going through the same type of illness.

When a person believes they may be suffering from an anxiety disorder, they should see a doctor immediately. A doctor will be able to discuss the symptoms with the patient and decide on the best treatment for the individual.

Some medications used for treating anxiety disorders can have side effects. A doctor will usually discuss these effects with the patient before beginning medication. If a patient experiences any reactions, they should discuss them with their doctor before stopping medication.

If a doctor has prescribed medication for the condition, it is important that the patient continues taking the drug for as long as the doctor deems it necessary. In many cases anxiety disorder drugs can cause reactions if they are stopped suddenly.

After an anxiety disorder has been diagnosed, a patient will often visit a mental health professional. A mental health professional should be someone the patient feels they can trust and be comfortable with. With the help of medication and therapy, many patients make a full recovery and live a normal life.

Disclaimer: The information presented here should not be interpreted as or substituted for medical advice. Please talk to a qualified professional for more information about anxiety disorders.

Copyright © 2006, Heather Colman. Find more anxiety disorder resources at anxiety-disorder-centre.info.

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Social Anxiety Can Take Over Your Life

July 29th, 2010

Going to the shopping mall may seem easy to you and me, but for someone who suffers with a social phobia it can quickly become so overwhelming that the trip ruins their whole week. A person who suffers with social anxiety may find the shopping mall to be no problem but they may struggle to eat in a crowded restaurant, different people find different situations cause anxiety.

Do you find a trip to the movies sends you into a panic? Well some people do, what about the thought of eating dinner with a group of people you don’t know? These are just two of the things that people with social anxiety disorders could well find totally unbearable.

Imagine spending your work day terrified that you will make a mistake. We all make mistakes, it is natural and no one can be 100% perfect all the time. When most of us make a mistake we just deal with it and move on. If you suffer with social anxiety the fear of making a mistake could well overwhelm your mind and drive you into a situation of total panic.

Does eating out with people you don’t know make you feel trembly, sick and sweaty? if you were suffering from a social anxiety disorder then it is very possible that you would feel exactly like that.

The symptoms of anxiety very often lead to the sufferer becoming embarrassed and that embarrassment compounds the feeling of anxiety. This is part of the reason why people with social anxiety often don’t socialize with anyone other than direct family members.

The anticipation of an event can be almost as bad as the actual event for people who have social anxiety disorders. Public speaking is one of the best known fears that people have, imagine having that level of fear every time you want to use a public toilet?

Many more women than men suffer with social anxiety disorder, possibly because they feel extra pressure to be perfect in social situations, but no one seems to really know. It is not uncommon for people to have social anxieties, there are certainly hundreds of thousands if not millions of people who suffer with it to various degrees in America alone.

Social anxiety disorder usually will start at a early age. You can be shy and still not experience the same intense anxiety that people do with social anxiety disorder. Shy people usually do not avoid certain social situations like people that have social anxiety disorders. Social anxiety disorder can overtake someone’s life if they allow it to.

Understanding anxiety is a goal every person who has anxiety hopes for. Many people with anxiety feel no one understands, anxiety is not something you have to suffer with alone.

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An Overview Of The Causes Of Social Anxiety Disorders

July 27th, 2010

Is there a specific cause of social anxiety that can be traced and perhaps dealt with as a matter of preventive medicine? It would be convenient if there were, but so far nobody has discovered any single thing that is known to cause such a disorder. Instead, what has been revealed as research has progressed is that the causes of the various types of anxiety disorders are as varied as the disorders themselves. In some cases, there appears to be a strong genetic or cultural factor, while in others, a traumatic event may be the trigger. And sometimes the trigger might be substance abuse.

The genetic cause of social anxiety may not be a cause at all. This is because it’s possible that children learn from a parent’s own anxiety disorders and social isolation, with some of them adopting the same view of the world. And yet there are also cases of twins raised separately; if one twin ends up with a social anxiety disorder, the other twin has a much higher likelihood than average for developing a similar disorder. So while some kind of “family” connection is seen, nobody has quite pinned down what role genetics actually play.

The place where social and cultural influences have definitely been shown to be a partial cause for social anxiety is in the realm of trauma. If the person, especially as a child, had some humiliating public experience, this could trigger a traumatic response that magnifies itself over the years. Often the phobia then becomes associated with that particular type of event going on into the future. So this sort of trauma tends to lend itself to specific phobias like pubic speaking, rather than to a more generalized type of anxiety disorder.

Brain chemistry, however, also plays a role as a cause of social anxiety. This can either be one’s inherent brain chemistry, or the problems may result from substance abuse. Or there can be a mix of both, as the person self-medicates with alcohol or drugs, as their own treatment for social phobia difficulties. They may feel better at first, but eventually these substances are more likely to make the phobias worse.

So even though many of the causes of these anxieties are known, there can often be several factors operating at once, from social to physical. When a person is dealing with more than one potential cause, treating their social anxiety can be more challenging.

There are effective ways to deal with anxiety and panic attacks, from cognitive coping strategies for anxiety to natural and herbal remedies. Visit the Panic and Anxiety Disorders site now for the information and advice you need.

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A Look At The Causes Of Social Anxiety Disorders

July 26th, 2010

Is there a specific cause of social anxiety that can be traced and perhaps dealt with as a matter of preventive medicine? It would be convenient if there were, but so far nobody has discovered any single thing that is known to cause such a disorder. Instead, what has been revealed as research has progressed is that the causes of the various types of anxiety disorders are as varied as the disorders themselves. In some cases, there appears to be a strong genetic or cultural factor, while in others, a traumatic event may be the trigger. And sometimes the trigger might be substance abuse.

Rather than saying there’s a genetic cause of social anxiety, it may in some ways be more accurate just to say there’s a potential “family” cause. The reason this cause can’t be narrowed down more accurately than that is that it isn’t certain why the incidence of these social phobias is higher in certain families. Given that you sometimes see the same sort of correlation in families with adopted children, the question becomes whether this sort of anxious view of the world has somehow been learned from a family member instead of inherited.

The place where social and cultural influences have definitely been shown to be a partial cause for social anxiety is in the realm of trauma. If the person, especially as a child, had some humiliating public experience, this could trigger a traumatic response that magnifies itself over the years. Often the phobia then becomes associated with that particular type of event going on into the future. So this sort of trauma tends to lend itself to specific phobias like pubic speaking, rather than to a more generalized type of anxiety disorder.

Brain chemistry, however, also plays a role as a cause of social anxiety. This can either be one’s inherent brain chemistry, or the problems may result from substance abuse. Or there can be a mix of both, as the person self-medicates with alcohol or drugs, as their own treatment for social phobia difficulties. They may feel better at first, but eventually these substances are more likely to make the phobias worse.

What all of this indicates is that it’s almost impossible to point to one specific “cause” of an anxiety disorder. There may be several factors, all of which need to be taken into account for proper diagnosis and treatment.

Visit the Panic and Anxiety Disorders site to learn more about your options for treating these debilitating conditions, from learning about panic attack medication to finding effective coping strategies for anxiety.

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