Signs That You May Have Social Anxiety Disorder

If you’ve suffered from social anxiety before, you know how debilitating it can be.

Social anxiety disorder, or social phobias, is a common mental health disorder where persistent, intense fear of social situations occurs.

Some individuals with social anxiety disorder may even experience full-blown physical symptoms, including a fast heart rate, dizziness, sweating, and nausea.

If you’ve ever experienced these symptoms, you probably understand the type of feeling that comes along with social anxiety disorder.

In this article, we’ll discuss social anxiety signs, some of the possible causes, and some helpful treatments.

Social Anxiety Treatment & Therapy to Consider

CBT is one effective social anxiety disorder treatment that many individuals have used in the past.

CBT, or cognitive behavioral therapy, works by helping the individual identify negative thoughts and beliefs that lead to their social anxiety disorder.

This therapy often involves identifying both main beliefs and the ways in which those beliefs lead to negative feelings, which are then replaced with more positive ones.

Group therapy is an essential component of CBT that many sufferers find helpful.

Social Anxiety Symptoms

You may experience social anxiety disorder symptoms when avoiding public restrooms, or other situations that involve interacting with others.

For example, if you were avoiding the use of public restrooms because you felt self-conscious in them, you may experience mild to moderate behavioral symptoms when using public restrooms.

However, your extreme symptoms may become much worse when you’re avoiding social situations altogether. This extreme form of social anxiety disorder is called “anxiety disorder with panic syndrome.”

People with this extreme symptom often experience uncontrollable panic attacks and can be very uncomfortable in any social situation where there are numerous people.

If you do not suffer from a specific social anxiety disorder, you may experience general anxiety symptoms that are similar.

Generalized anxiety may include various types of physical symptoms such as aches and pains, stomach problems, dizziness, headaches, muscle tension, diarrhea and upset stomach.

A general anxiety may also develop as you grow older, sometimes resulting in difficulty with common tasks like getting dressed or operating a computer.

If your generalized anxiety gets worse you may begin to exhibit signs of physical fatigue such as excessive sleepiness, loss of appetite or feeling exhausted even if you’ve had plenty of food.

Treatment to Consider

When these symptoms affect your quality of life, you should seek help from your doctor.

Some people experience a combination of symptoms, including physical and social anxiety disorder.

In some cases, your healthcare provider will prescribe a combination of medication and psychological therapy, including relaxation techniques, coping skills training and exposure to stressful social situations.

Your healthcare provider may also recommend limiting certain activities, such as consuming alcohol, avoiding driving, or keeping other personal habits that could further worsen your symptoms.

Be sure to tell your healthcare provider if you regularly experience overwhelming fears or worries about specific social situations.

Some people who suffer from social anxiety disorder are aware of their symptoms and avoid certain social settings or situations.

However, many people don’t recognize their symptoms and can’t avoid certain social situations for a variety of reasons, including a fear of being embarrassed or judged by others.

In this case, you need to be able to recognize the symptoms associated with social anxiety disorder and be able to overcome them.

There are many ways to treat social anxiety disorder, including medications and mental health therapy.

Can Medication Solve Social Anxiety?

Medications can provide relief from symptoms and allow you to feel more confident in social settings.

However, you should realize that social anxiety disorder is not a curable condition.

If your medications are not working, you may want to consult with your doctor about changing your medications or even considering cognitive behavioral therapy.

Other physical symptoms of social anxiety disorder include blushing and heart palpitations.

These physical symptoms can be difficult to detect because they often occur during periods when you aren’t thinking, but they can be extremely embarrassing and stressful for the person suffering from this disorder.

In order to find out whether your blushing is related to social anxiety disorder or not, you should keep a log of your personal signs of blushing and report back to your therapist.

Knowing the actual cause of your blushing can help you determine whether it is social anxiety disorder that is causing your physical symptoms.

Identifying the Causes of Social Anxiety Disorder

Doctors do not know exactly what causes social anxiety disorder. They believe it can run in families as well.

However, they aren’t exactly sure if it is due to genetics or simply a reaction to a very traumatic event.

Social anxiety disorder causes physical and emotional symptoms in most people.

The physical symptoms include shaking, nausea, extreme sweating, dizziness and heart palpitations.

Some people suffer with physical symptoms so severe that it interferes with their daily activities.

This would include things such as experiencing chest pain, rapid heart rate, trembling, headaches, muscle tension, and difficulty breathing. When the body experiences these types of intense physical symptoms for prolonged periods of time, the individual can begin to lose control of the situations they find themselves in.

It becomes impossible for them to function properly in social situations. They may begin to avoid all social situations and choose only their own personal ones.

Many of the people who suffer from this type of intense fear may even have been physically abused as a child.

When the victim grows up and begins to deal with social situations on a regular basis, they often come into contact with the social anxiety disorder causes again.

It may be a parent who abuses the child or someone who is in the family. Even if no one is directly abusing the patient, the mental trauma of living with physical symptoms on a daily basis for years can lead to serious mental problems that manifest physically.