What Is A Social Anxiety Disorder And How To Deal With It
Most people have heard of anxiety before but many are not aware that there are actually different forms of anxiety that you can suffer from. Social anxiety disorder is one of the most commonly diagnosed anxiety conditions, and this is a chronic mental health condition that causes an irrational fear of activities or situations in which the sufferer believes that people around them are watching them and judging them.
There are certain signs and symptoms that you will notice if you suffer from a social anxiety disorder, which will differentiate it from other anxiety disorders. You may have an intense fear of being in situations where you do not know people, fear of situations in which you may be judged, fear that others will notice you looking anxious, and you avoid doing thinks out of fear that you may say the wrong thing or otherwise embarrass yourself.
Causes Of Social Anxiety Disorder
There is no single known cause of social anxiety disorder, but rather a variety of triggers and factors that are involved. Biochemistry is considered as being a major factor here, as researchers are now exploring the idea that natural chemicals in the body may play a major role in the disorder. For instance an imbalance in the brain chemical serotonin could be a factor, which explains why most of the medications that are prescribed to treat this disorder work by balancing the level of serotonin in the patient's brain.
Genes are also a possibility here, as social anxiety disorder tends to run in families. And although it is clear that the genes most likely do play a major role here, researchers have yet to determine whether this hereditary component is related to genetics or whether it is behavior learned by other family members.
Treatment Of Social Anxiety Disorder
Treatment is of course one of the most major aspects when it comes to a health condition such as a social anxiety disorder, especially for the sufferer who most likely feels helpless and as though their life is spinning out of control.
Psychotherapy is the most commonly prescribed treatment method, in particular cognitive behavioral therapy. This is actually the only type of therapy that has shown to be effective in treating social anxiety disorder, and it is based on the idea that your own thoughts is what really determines how you behave or react. It may also include exposure therapy, which involves gradually working up to facing the situations that you fear most and which as a result will help you to get over your problem with anxiety.
