Social Anxiety / Social Phobia treatment in N. Ireland - Stephen Chan FIAPH
What is social anxiety?
Social anxiety is the fear of being judged or humiliated or on the spot
What is social phobia (Scopophobia)?
Social phobia is a fear of embarrassing, or humiliating 'on the spot' type situations (in public) aka: social anxiety, social anxiety disorder, fear of being judged.
Social phobia is probably the most common phobia there is; a pervasive fear of any situation where the sufferer is likely to feel 'on the spot', embarrassed, humiliated or judged - for example; dinner parties, public speaking, interviews, appearing in court, singing, stuttering etc Associated symptoms: sensitivity to criticism, negative self image, fear of rejection, difficulty in being assertive and feelings of inferiority. On a more general level, the social phobic worries continuously about how others 'see' them, and what others may think about them - it is not surprising then that the sufferer usually spends a lot of time creating the image they want others to see. Usually the social phobic is quite adept at concealing their anxiety from others, although there is quite often a difficulty in maintaining eye contact.
In a clinical setting (in the U.S.A.) somewhere between 3 - 13% of people had social phobia.
Social phobia generally starts in the mid -teens (although it often follows on from just being 'shy') or can be triggered off by a particularly embarrassing event. As with all phobias, stress (or the lack of it) will have a significant effect on the 'strength' of the anxiety created. In the D.S.M.4 (the Mental Health 'Bible') the main criteria for social phobia is listed as; 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/she will act in a way that will be humiliating or embarrassing.
Some symptoms that may appear alongside (or be caused by) social phobia or social anxiety are.....
- A fear of public speaking
- A fear of talking on the telephone
- A fear of writing in front of someone (even signing a cheque!)
- Blushing, or a fear of blushing
- Stuttering or stammering
- A lack of confidence
- Working too hard (to please others)
- Setting unachievable high standards (and feeling bad when they are not met)
- A preoccupation with how you look: perfecting an image you want others to see (NOT vanity - this is about trying to 'blend in')
- Certain twitches or 'tics'
- Shy bladder (men) not being able to pee, when on the spot
- Certain sexual inhibitions - due to 'performance anxiety'
- Repeated failure of driving test - due to 'performance anxiety'
- A persistent fear of failure, or 'not making the grade'
- Basically, any situation in life where you might feel embarrassed, on the spot, judged, silly, out of control etc etc
Please contact me at Ulster Hypnotherapy to arrange your free consultation - Free phone 0800 970 1189.
There will be no need to speak to anyone other than myself, and I promise that your problems will be discussed with the greatest of sensitivity and strictest confidence
Please note because of the volume of clientele there is a strong possibility you will be connected to my personal answer phone, if this is the case just leave your name and number, and when I return the call I will not give my name and ask and talk only to you.
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