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Anxiety Disorders Symptoms - Social PhobiaMark Dombeck, Ph.D. Updated: Nov 6th 2001Social Phobia Symptoms
Social phobia is an intense fear of becoming humiliated in social situations, specifically of embarrassing yourself in front of other people. It often runs in families and may be accompanied by depression or alcoholism. Social phobia often begins around early adolescence or even younger."
If you suffer from social phobia, you tend to think that other people are very competent in public and that you are not. Small mistakes you make may seem to you much more exaggerated than they really are. Blushing itself may seem painfully embarrassing, and you feel as though all eyes are focused on you. You may be afraid of being with people other than those closest to you. Or your fear may be more specific, such as feeling anxious about giving a speech, talking to a boss or other authority figure, or dating. The most common social phobia is a fear of public speaking. Sometimes social phobia involves a general fear of social situations such as parties. More rarely it may involve a fear of using a public restroom, eating out, talking on the phone, or writing in the presence of other people, such as when signing a check.
Although this disorder is often thought of as shyness, the two are not the same. Shy people can be very uneasy around others, but they don't experience the extreme anxiety in anticipating a social situation, and they don't necessarily avoid circumstances that make them feel self-conscious. In contrast, people with social phobia aren't necessarily shy at all. They can be completely at ease with people most of the time, but particular situations, such as walking down an aisle in public or making a speech, can give them intense anxiety. Social phobia disrupts normal life, interfering with career or social relationships. For example, a worker can turn down a job promotion because he can't give public presentations. The dread of a social event can begin weeks in advance, and symptoms can be quite debilitating.
People with social phobia are aware that their feelings are irrational. Still, they experience a great deal of dread before facing the feared situation, and they may go out of their way to avoid it. Even if they manage to confront what they fear, they usually feel very anxious beforehand and are intensely uncomfortable throughout. Afterwards, the unpleasant feelings may linger, as they worry about how they may have been judged or what others may have thought or observed about them.
Specific Symptoms of this Disorder:
A marked and persistent fear of one or more social or performance situations in which the person is exposed to unfamiliar people or to possible scrutiny by others. The individual fears that he or she will act in a way (or show anxiety symptoms) that will be humiliating or embarrassing.
Note: In children, there must be evidence of the capacity for age-appropriate social relationships with familiar people and the anxiety must occur in peer settings, not just in interactions with adults.
Exposure to the feared social situation almost invariably provokes anxiety, which may take the form of a situationally bound or situationally predisposed Panic Attack.
Note: In children, the anxiety may be expressed by crying, tantrums, freezing, or shrinking from social situations with unfamiliar people.
The person recognizes that the fear is excessive or unreasonable.
Note: In children, this feature may be absent.
The feared social or performance situations are avoided or else are endured with intense anxiety or distress.
The avoidance, anxious anticipation, or distress in the feared social or performance situation(s) interferes significantly with the person's normal routine, occupational (academic) functioning, or social activities or relationships, or there is marked distress about having the phobia.
In individuals under age 18 years, the duration is at least 6 months.
The fear or avoidance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition and is not better accounted for by another mental disorder.
If a general medical condition or another mental disorder is present, the fear in the first criteria is unrelated to it, e.g., the fear is not of Stuttering, trembling in Parkinson's disease, or exhibiting abnormal eating behavior in Anorexia Nervosa or Bulimia Nervosa.
References:
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fourth edition. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.
National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, NIH Publication No. 95-3879 (1995)
Sort of Answer to Your Question - crevan - Jan 11th 2010
The Person needs to seek out a psychiatrist not just a medical doctor. Cognative Behavioral Therapy helps in some people too. Yoga and Fitness might help relieve stress and prevent an anxiety attack naturally.
In Ontario, Canada Clonazepam and Cipralex are often the first steps to Social Anxiety treatment, but if this person is on an MAO they cannot take these medications.
Seek a psychiatrist or Psycologist in your area for this person, they are the expert, and if you feel the treatment is not working then speak to the therapist.
If the person is using recreational drugs (Cocaine, Methadone, Cannabius, etc) it might interfear with the treatment and even make the person worse off.
Pharmalogical treatment should always be constant, make sure they take their medications as perscribed by the therapist/doctor. Going off the medications cold turkey even for a day can cause manic episodes and rage, possible suicide or acting out, might even cause heart palpatations and/or heart issues. Plus even one day missed can mess up the whole treatment regiment.
Social Anxiety medications take 6-8 weeks to start working and if they are taking the medications irregular, the medications will never "settle in" to start working properly. They need to be able to pass the BBB (Blood Brain Barrier)for the brain to feel the effects of the medications, one pill, one treatment will do nothing except maybe make the person sleep.
Seek out a psychiatrist and not JUST a medical doctor, a therapist specializes in mental illnessess and mood disorders and drugs, a medical doctor is trained a little in everything with no specializations except maybe private practice (except pediatricians who have a specialty in children).
Hope this person gets more help soon and works on their journey to wellness.
Good Luck. aboyt social fair - shashank - Dec 9th 2009
i am student of pharmacy my nearest relative is sffuring from such type of symptom i want help from other than indian doctors .they on the treatment on the tablef of sleeping pill and other drug like alprazolam since from last 3 years but the effect of drug is not as good as. they take the medicine on an irregula bases what are the right choice for them they are also the patient of high blood prresure the tablet of atenelol of 10mgper day is given by family doctor what can be the right drug of choice from them can get any idea about theit disease so please reply me on my above given email id | 
