Social Anxiety Research Paper

Social anxiety disorder, or also known as social phobia, is a fear of social situations that involves interacting with others. Those with social anxiety disorder feel like they’re always in the spotlight, being scrutinized for everything they do (Chansky, 2004, p. 148) and they try to avoid social situations as much as they can (Meyers, 2011, p. 662-663). Some physical symptoms of social anxiety disorder include stomach aches, shallow breathing, sweating, feeling hot flashes, feeling like their heart is racing, tightness in the chest, feeling tense, or shakiness (“Canadian Health Association”, 2012). According to the Canadian Mental Health Association (2012), “about 8% of people will experience symptoms of social anxiety disorder at some point …show more content…
For those with social anxiety disorder, simple social situations can cause anxiety and fear, and “they will go to great lengths to avoid social situations” such as family gathering, parties, and other social events. The more and more they withdraw from those who care about them, the more isolated and alone they will feel, which can ultimately lead to other alternatives to reduce the impact of their symptoms such as the use of alcohol and other addictive substances, or through anorexic or bulimic behaviors (“Social Anxiety Disorder Symptoms and Effects”, 2015 ). Additionally, children who suffer from social anxiety disorder want to connect and be closer to the ones they love “but either they don’t know how or anticipate unfavourable reactions from others, or they feel that they have no choice but avoidance” (Chansky, 2004, p.157). This can cause a drift in family relationships as well as a gap between the child and his/her peers at …show more content…
Before the 19th century, many people thought that social anxiety was acceptable and normal to have, especially for women. They even saw it as an advantage in certain situations (Dowbiggin, 2009, p. 430 ). “In 2002, the World Mental Health Survey reported that anxiety was the most prevalent mental health problem around the globe, a plague that showed few signs of abating any time soon” (Dowbiggin, 2009, p. 429 ). This information regards anxiety, and since social anxiety is a type of anxiety, this applies to it as well. In our society, “we constantly negotiate new social hierarchies and confront situations that tend to trigger anxiety by biological design” (Wakefield, Horwitz, and Schmitz, 2005, p. 317 ). The world we live in has much more to offer than it did before, and this includes opportunities. But these opportunities can be agonizing and cause people to overthink and stress over the details. Earlier on, social groups were smaller and composed of familiar people who you cooperated well with but were still in competition for status (Wakefield et al, 2005, p. 317 ). Now, for the most part, social groups are much larger and connected due to advanced technology which allows people to communicate even more. A larger social group means that people may not be

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