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Social phobia or social anxiety disorder comes in many forms. For some people, it crops up in specific situations, most commonly public speaking. In other people, it may manifest as fear of dating or talking to an authority figure. For others, it is a more generalized fear of interacting with people you don´t know or aren´t comfortable with.
Social phobia should not be confused with shyness. Shy people can certainly be uncomfortable around others but they don´t suffer from extreme anxiety anticipating the event and they don´t necessarily avoid the situation that makes them anxious.
People with social phobia don´t have to be shy at all. In fact they can be completely at ease, even gregarious in many situations until they run into the situation they are phobic about. Walking down an aisle in public or making a speech can suddenly turn these previously at ease people into unrecognizable, nervous, agitated wrecks.
As with other anxiety disorders and phobias, social phobia hampers your life. A negative impact on your daily life is the key component in any phobia diagnosis. If you pass up a promotion because you can´t give public presentations then your phobia has interfered with your life and you have this disorder.
For people suffering from phobia the dread and anxiety can take over your life. If you know you need to go to a client´s Christmas party, you can dread that event for weeks beforehand and make yourself sick. The worry and anxiety are both physically and mentally debilitating.
People who suffer from social phobia know that their feelings are irrational or overblown. However, they can´t escape the immense dread and worry that preoccupies their lives before facing the feared social occasion. The anticipatory dread may lead to avoidance and certainly plagues the mind for a great deal of time beforehand.
If your phobia isn´t severe you may be able to face the feared social situation but the discomfort you feel during the event is overwhelming. What´s more, the feelings often remain after the event; as you obsess over the details of your interactions, wonder what people thought of you and what their comments might be about you now.
The preoccupation, extreme anxiety and potential panic attacks surrounding social interaction are not normal. Shyness is fine but when the feelings are so overwhelming that they cause anxiety for weeks or months or years then it has crossed over into a phobia.
The sufferers have their lives dictated by the need to avoid the specific type of situation they are phobic about. They will go to almost any length to avoid the fear of being judged or looked at by others. This is not a problem that will just go away; it is a situation that requires intervention on your part to retrain your mind to overcome the anxiousness that plagues it.
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