What Is Social Anxiety Disorder?
As a Coach amd Mentor I often speak to – and help people who could be classed as having social anxiety disorder. It’s not that difficult for you to get relief from this – if you are willing to be disciplined and apply yourself over 2 – 6 weeks. So lets first have a look at what it means to have this extreme form of anxiety.
You have probably experienced social situations where you feel fear and apprehension. That’s normal, it happens to most people. This commonly occurs if you are talking in front of a large group of people. This may even extend to talking in front of small groups of people and you might even feel shy or uncomfortable in any unfamiliar social situation. My opinion is that this is still normal.
For some of you however these feeling are much more dramatic and simple social scenarios can become debilitating episodes, resulting in extreme anxiety, panic attacks, or you avoiding the event entirely. Anxiety in this case becomes so overwhelming for you that it interferes with the normal function of your life. If you suffer like this when it comes to social situations it’s said that you have a social anxiety disorder.
How Common Is Social Anxiety Disorder.
You are not alone. Statistic say that this disorder is one of the largest mental health issues in the world. I have seen statistics quoted that say 5- 10% of some western populations suffer from this. Male or female social anxiety disorder has no preference and I would guess that the figures are conservative because many people are worried about ridicule and embarrassment, so you may keep this type of issue to yourself.
Triggers For Social Anxiety Disorder.
This may be triggered by the following events;
- Meeting new people
- Public speaking
- You are being watched performing a task
- When you are the center of attention
- If you are being teased
- If someone is criticizing you.
Symptoms Of Social Anxiety Disorder.
The symptoms can include the following;
- Heart palpitations
- You may shake
- Excessive sweating
- Diarrhoea
- You might feel nausea
- A feeling of confusion
- Stuttering
- You may blush
Do You have Social Anxiety Disorder?
This is an interesting question because many of the symptoms listed above are also present if you are nervous and stressed about a situation. If you have social anxiety disorder you often also have low self esteem, you are likely to be sensitive to criticism and rejection and you probably have difficulty asserting yourself.
If you have social anxiety disorder you probably experiences extreme and recurrent episodes of anxiety whenever a social situation arises. You will probably be aware of the intensity and over reaction of your symptoms. You might feel that others will ridicule or judge you because of your reaction. This of course increases your fear of the social occasion you are faced with. You might go to extremes to avoid social situations. If you avoid doing things with other people because you are afraid of embarrassing yourself or people judging you you may suffer from this disorder. If you are terrified of being the center of attention and you avoid or become anxious in social situations where you have to meet or speak to strangers you might have social anxiety disorder.
How Do You Fix It?
It’s not as difficult as you think. You need to understand that anxiety in all its forms is a function of the way you think. If you understand that your thoughts occur to you – and they are not you. You can progress on the path to healing.
Here are some articles that explain this concept in greater detail.
Once you understand AND practice being present and aware of your thinking process you can change the thoughts you have in regard to any particular event. This is easy with practice. The key here is you can learn the techniques in minutes but you NEED to practice for weeks.
I know this can be done as I have helped many people with different types of anxiety problems from mild nervousness at major events to social anxiety disorder as discussed in this article. The resources to tackle this are available on this web site for fee – other wise – try my “Speed2Enlightenment” online workshop where I can help you through this issue.
