social phobia

Shyness and fear of people, and in a scientific way - social phobia, is a very common problem among children, youth and even people of mature age. Is it possible to overcome social phobia and find "one's own place" among people, find friends and build a normal family? This question is asked by all people who have communication problems. In this article, we will consider all aspects of this ailment and analyze how to treat social phobia not only with a psychologist, but also on our own.

In this article, we will discuss one of the most common mental disorders that does not have any "risk groups" and all individuals - men and women of all ages - are subject to it. In addition, we will tell you how to deal with this mental disorder, in what signs it is expressed and what health consequences it has.

The first thing I would like to say is to bring the exact designation of "social phobia". From the medical reference book it follows that this disease is detected in uncontrolled fear, which completely paralyzes the will, thoughts of a person; complicates its acclimatization in society. It happens that people who suffer from this type of phobia experience an anxious fear just by being in a crowded place. And since patients do uncontrolled actions, this draws attention from others, which strengthens the phobia. To cope with such a problem, patients resort to alcohol, alcoholism develops. Alas, this is a common consequence of social phobia.

Social phobia and shyness are a common cause of problems in communication and interaction with people. The beginnings of the disease can appear in the first months of a person's life. Often, the prerequisites for this disease arise if the child does not feel maternal care, emotional response. The mother must constantly communicate with the child, stroke, smile, treat with all love, even if the child plays pranks. Receiving full maternal love, the child feels safe and feels that the world is open before him.

The absence or lack of care from the mother leads to the fact that the child is in constant stress - restless, anxious, and every day he becomes less active, physically weaker. The world for him is a real evil, and since his mother is like that, then all people are evil. Such deep psychological problems can develop not only into a fear of people, but also lead to nervous tics and.

The problem becomes deeper if it is not his mother who takes care and care, but another, complete stranger. This happens if the child is sent to a nursery early, or a nanny will be involved in his upbringing. The fear of parting with my mother will also increase with anxiety, fear of society, which will give its negative consequences in the future. So, after many years, such fear becomes unconscious. Even if such an adult is fully aware that there is nothing terrible in society. But uncontrolled fear creates huge difficulties in a career, interaction with other people, creating a family.

How did social phobia come about?

The history of the study of this disease is still quite "short". Psychologists drew attention to the uncontrolled fear of society only in the mid-60s. But only now this disease began to be considered as a mental disorder that can be treated. Prior to this, the disease was referred to as a neurosis that appears with the growing up of a teenager, or even a real illness was attributed to the usual manifestation of timidity.

Previously, social phobia was treated with tranquilizers, and psychotherapists, talking with the patient, advised simply not to pay attention to their fears, to overcome them. Actively practiced auto-training and hypnosis of the patient. However, such methods do not bring a positive result, which discourages the patient from the desire to fight the disease.

Fear of people: what is the reason?

As a rule, such prerequisites are located deep within the individual. A person suffering from social phobia, extremely dependent on the assessment, opinion of society. The true reasons are “buried” in childhood. And there are echoes of this in improper upbringing - parents or educators who often use comparisons with other children in a negative manner cause enormous damage to a young person. “Don’t cry like a girl”, “Behave yourself”, “Petya has better grades than you!” and so on - such expressions should be avoided. And as a result, the child fixes the “correct” behavior on the subcortex of the brain, and in adulthood becomes the “happy” owner of low self-esteem, which is a prerequisite for the development of social phobia.

Another factor that leads to the onset of social phobia is long-term stress or emotional tension, which is often work-related. Fear of the society of other people can also manifest itself with a single, very strong stress (cataclysms, accidents, catastrophes, etc., which brings destruction, death, etc.).

It is important to understand that this mental disorder is the “first call” for those who are prone to depression or drug addicts. Having one of these ailments, you need to urgently seek the advice of a psychotherapist in order to prevent the development of concomitant nerves, diseases of organ systems, etc.

Symptoms of social phobia

Fear of people manifests itself in different ways. People who suffer from this mental disorder have a critical level of fear of getting a "negative assessment" from the people around them. Even complete strangers. Shyness, fear, involuntary embarrassment, unreasonable anxiety - all this is closely related to social phobia and acts as the main "signals".

It happens that patients do not experience such reactions, but if you "dig deeper", you can note other signs that cause unreasonable fear:

• New acquaintances;
• Communication with superiors;
• Phone conversations;
• Reception of guests;
• Various activities among other people (dressing, eating, working, etc.)
• speaking in front of people;
• banter from others.

Somatic signs of social phobia are trembling, rapid heartbeat, muscle tension, sweating, “throws in cold or heat”, a sharp headache.

The problems of sociophobes are separately specific. Such people are afraid of a significant situation for them - to be misunderstood, they are afraid of condemnation and any criticism. In addition, they are often afraid of being embarrassed in the presence of other people. As a result, a person prone to unreasonable fear tries to have less contact with society, in every possible way to avoid the environment of other people.

And in order to relax, to return his state of mind to normal, the patient tries to "calm down" fears with psychotropic substances - drugs, alcohol, smoking, etc. And this leads to an increase in guilt, the emergence of "muted" anxiety, fear. And the use of "sedatives", which for a sociophobe are drugs and alcohol, are only temporary, "illusory" in nature.

The fears and obsessive states of people suffering from the fear of society are accompanied by a variety of "rituals" that serve as a "protection" from imaginary evil. They may include singing, repeating the same phrases, snapping fingers, and so on. In such manifestations, one can clearly predict the development of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Social phobia does not have certain "risk groups" - all people are susceptible to the disease, without exception, women and men of all ages. But they differ in their “fear avoidance” preferences: men look for medicine in a “bottle”, and women look for housewives. Statistics say that every tenth person on our planet has a fear of society.

Very often, the fear of people is especially manifested before any important event for a person. For example, a child should answer at the blackboard, or a company employee should make a presentation. As a rule, social phobes begin to worry about the upcoming event a week before it. They keep replaying in their heads how they should behave, what they should say. Once again, the key symptoms: fever or sharp cold, tremors in the muscles, increased heart rate, speech disorders, confusion in thoughts, digestive disorder syndrome, loss of self-control. As a result, the child cannot answer at the blackboard, because he is afraid of ridicule from classmates. His speech breaks down, he begins to think too much about how he should say instead of what he should answer. The same is true with adults. Too worried about how others see them, social phobes cannot put their own thoughts in order and concentrate on school, work, and just ordinary communication.

Social phobia in children

How does the disease manifest itself and develop in childhood? Psychologists answer: yes. A distinctive feature of social phobia is the early age of people suffering from the disease. In children, a phobia can appear from the age of ten, or maybe much earlier.

It is important for parents to "socialize" the child as early as possible. If the baby learns to communicate with peers in kindergarten at a very early age (from one to three years), then adaptation in society will go smoothly for him. Very young children are not capable of doing evil deeds, teasing or hitting their peers. They are curious, and they communicate with friends in the form of a game. Positive emotions from communicating with children of their own age reinforce a positive attitude towards others and the confidence that no one will offend a child. Such children already know how to properly respond to difficult situations in the future. When school time comes, and the child encounters aggression from one of the children, or sees that someone offends his friend, then the self-confident child will have the right reaction: censure and protection of the friend. At the same time, a negative experience with one of the classmates will not shake the baby's confidence in people.

If the child did not go to kindergarten, then the school can become a source of severe stress. As a rule, the school acts as the “first obstacle” for the child on the way to adaptation in society, which, far from everyone can get through. In this regard, the phobia becomes the cause of poor academic performance, many children refuse to go to school because of fear.

Social phobia: treatment

Overcoming social phobia is not an easy task, but it is doable, and with the help of a good psychologist, you can get rid of the fear of people forever.

It is worth emphasizing that visits to a psychotherapist for treatment are not enough. A set of measures is needed, which includes taking psychotropic drugs (up to six months), visits to a psychologist, and classes in groups with other patients. The group of drugs against social phobia includes serotonergic antidepressants, MAO inhibitors, beta-blockers, anxiolytics, triazole benzodiazepines.

Medication treatment is recommended for patients who suffer from disorders that significantly complicate life - the inability to work, study, communicate with other people. But the basis of therapy is psychotherapy. It is difficult for a person to pull himself together, to heal himself and a qualified psychotherapist is required. Otherwise, the next stage in the development of the disease will be alcoholism, and the appearance of "agoraphobia", when fear develops into inexplicable rage.

However, even if the patient has taken the path of recovery, one should not expect quick, effective results. The doctor must study the patient, since the phobia is individual in each case. For example, talking with a psychologist does not bring the desired effect. Then the specialist prescribes serious medication treatment. Now there are many drugs that fight phobias. But, alas, most of them require constant reception. And when the patient stops doing this, the symptoms return to normal. It is important to remember that only in a set of measures, and with full dedication, this disease can be cured.

Overcoming social phobia on your own

In fact, a person can independently recover from his own shyness. The main thing is not to give up if you don't succeed the first time. Remember that starting therapy early will help you avoid serious disorders. It is important to learn several main factors of therapy:

• By an effort of will, we “extinguish” disturbing thoughts;
• We try not to be “afraid” of society;
• Overcome "fictitious barrier".

The first step on the path to self-treatment is to track down bad thoughts that lower self-esteem - "Girls don't like me", "Employer will not see my success." We filter such thoughts, and try to identify - why did they appear? Further, if such thoughts do not have prerequisites for the appearance, i.e. they are completely far-fetched and groundless, then they disappear or are transformed into positive ones.

The development of social communication skills should be a daily speech training for the patient, which should be given no more than thirty minutes. You need to start practicing at home, in a calm and comfortable place. And so that your interlocutors are people whom you trust one hundred percent.

Don't skip books that offer other exercises to overcome fears. Learn how to rest properly - not only physically, but also mentally. Try a set of breathing practices. However, it should be emphasized that too frequent inhalation-exhalation training can disrupt the functioning of the cardiovascular system.

Make a list of fifteen situations you really don't want to get into. Moreover, when compiling such a list, arrange situations in a kind of rating, where the most frightening situation will be in the first place, and in the last - practically not frightening. Try to think about this situation in your head, and get to the bottom of the true reason for the appearance of fear. Try to imagine that one of your close friends was in a similar situation and that you would do how you would react to this.

If self-treatment remains ineffective, despite many attempts, then you should make an appointment with a specialist who can develop an individual treatment program based on the expressed symptoms.

It is possible to overcome alienation, to “remove the barrier” only through practice. What do I need to do? Go to a crowded place! In cafes, at parties, try to make acquaintances. Swear with the sellers if you were sold a defective product; argue and don't be afraid to argue. Gradually the fear will subside. Live by the principle: "What I'm afraid of, I will do."