The Symptoms of Social Anxiety (Social Phobia)

Source: Paul Douglass MIAH Acc. D.Hyp. Adv. - Anxiety therapist specialising in Pure Hypnoanalysis in London, England - Visit Paul's Website

Social anxiety (also known as social phobia) can be summed up as the fear of being judged by other people.

Someone with social anxiety or social phobia, will worry about how other might see them.

Everyone wants to be seen positively by others, and we all, to one extent or another, care about how others see us.

If you suffer with social anxiety (social phobia) though, this is more than just caring what others think... it can become an outright fear.

It can affect almost any aspect of a social phobic's life, where any kind of interaction with others may occur (not just social interaction as the term 'social anxiety' might suggest).

Someone with social anxiety (social phobia) may actively avoid situations that involve any interaction with other people, so that they don't have to face their fear.

The Fear of Being Judged By Others

People with social anxiety (social phobia) often presume that other people are judging them, even if there actually isn't any evidence to support this.

Let's take the example of someone going out of their house into the front garden. Let's say that the neighbor, who had been in their own garden, goes indoors. In this situation, someone with social anxiety (social phobia) might incorrectly assume that the neighbor had gone indoors because they had gone out into their garden.

They might assume a responsibility for their neighbor's actions... in actual fact, the neighbor had gone indoors because their phone had rung, but to the socially anxious (social phobic) person, they may assume that the neighbor simply doesn't like them.

Of course, someone with stronger social anxiety (social phobia) might not have gone out into their garden at all in this situation, for fear that they might get into a conversation with the neighbor.

People with social anxiety (social phobia) often feel that everything they do is being judged, and so will often try to just 'blend into the background', in the hope that they won't get noticed.

The Symptoms of Social Anxiety (Social Phobia)

• dry mouth
• blushing
• feeling sick
• shaking
• feeling weak
• shy bladder (inability to urinate in public toilets)
• stammering
• diarrhoea
• stuttering
• sweating
• having palpitations

Often, social anxiety (social phobia) can cause the person to have full scale anxiety attack (or panic attack)

Avoiding 'Social' Situations

Although we often think of social anxiety (social phobia) in terms of affecting 'social' situations, it can affect any situation where the socially phobic (or socially anxious) person has to interact with others, in almost any situation.

For example, someone with social anxiety (social phobia) may suffer from 'shy bladder'. 'Shy bladder' is the inability to use toilets when other people are present, making public toilets impossible to use.

The socially phobic (socially anxious) person may also avoid going to restaurants, shopping, to the dentist or hairdresser.

Situations that might be a pleasant situation for most people, such as going on a night out, going to a party, or just generally meeting people, can bring terror to the person with social anxiety (social phobia).

May will avoid the situation completely, but those who need to go to situations like this may use something like alcohol, to 'loosen up' before going out.

The fear isn't always limited to face-to-face meetings, with many socially anxious (socially phobic) people also avoiding the telephone, writing in front of others, or signing their name for example.

Source: Paul Douglass MIAH Acc. D.Hyp. Adv. - Anxiety therapist specialising in Pure Hypnoanalysis in London, England - Visit Paul's Website

Date Added: 10th of July 2007

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