Social anxiety, or social phobia, afflicts many people. About 19.2 million Americans are suffering from social anxiety. Of the various kinds of mental illnesses, social anxiety is the third most common in the United States. Different treatment modalities are being used to beat social anxiety.
Before treatment can be started, you must first know what social anxiety is. A person who has social anxiety experiences excessive and unreasonable fear of social gatherings. This social anxiety comes from the fear of being judged, criticized, or closely watched by others. Because of a person’s feeling of unreasonable fear, he or she feels extremely anxious in social situations that he or she may even avoid these. Even the mere thought of the upcoming event already makes a person with social anxiety experience what is called anticipatory anxiety. These people know that it is very unreasonable to feel severely anxious over such circumstances but they do not know how to overcome it.
Social anxiety is usually incited by various social events. Examples of these are talking in public, eating or drinking in front of other people, interacting with people, using public toilets, talking on the phone, and others. Fear of these social events usually come from distorted thinking, negative opinion of other people, and false beliefs. How can a person with social anxiety be diagnosed?
If symptoms of social anxiety are observed, the doctor will initially conduct an evaluation of a person’s medical history and a physical exam. The doctor will have to rule out the existence of a physical illness by conducting various laboratory tests.
If no physical illness is found through the laboratory test results, the patient will be referred to a psychologist or psychiatrist. The mental health professional, a psychiatrist or psychologist, can diagnose social anxiety with the help of assessment tools like interviews. Upon diagnosis of social anxiety, the correct treatment strategy for the patient will be prescribed.
Years ago, cognitive-behavior therapy is the best method to beat social anxiety. Cognitive-behavior therapy is about changing a person’s fear into a more rational way of thinking. In this treatment, a person with social anxiety learns how to react differently in social situations and how to stop avoiding them. There are two ways that cognitive-behavior therapy is done: systematic desensitization and real life exposure to situations.
Systematic desensitization works by making the person imagine the social events. With the guidance of the therapist, he or she is guided to work through his or her fears. Another way to do cognitive-behavior therapy is by exposing the patient to real life social situations. This exposure is also done with the aid of a therapist to guide the person through his or her fears.
Doctors also prescribe medicines in order to beat social anxiety. Doctors prescribe medicines like beta-blockers, antidepressants, and tranquilizers. These drugs may be used with cognitive-behavior therapy in order to minimize the symptoms of social anxiety.
Cognitive-behavior therapy and prescription medications have been tried by many social anxiety sufferers. Unfortunately these treatment methods did not beat social anxiety because only Panic Away is effective in doing so.
You can now get rid of social anxiety for good. Learn more information on how to beat social anxiety through Panic Away.
