♧ What is Social Anxiety Disorder?

What is Social Anxiety Disorder?

By Monte Brogdon a year ago in Coping

The defining feature of social anxiety disorder, also known as social phobia, is the feeling of extraordinary nervousness or fear of being judged, obstinately judged, or rejected in a social or performance circumstance. Although this disorder is labeled as social phobia in the DSM-IV-TR, the term Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is proposed in the DSM-5 as the harms caused by it tends to be more omnipresent and interferes much more with daily activities compared to problems caused by other phobias.

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is the second most commonly diagnosed anxiety disorder. It is most common among women and it tends to typically begin in adolescence and interferes with developing friendships. In spite of the fact, people diagnosed with social anxiety disorder normally report extreme shyness in childhood, it is important to note that this issue isn't simply shyness.

Risk Factors

Illustration by Brianna Gilmartin, Verywell

A risk factor is something that raises your odds of getting a health problem. If you have been diagnosed with social anxiety disorder (SAD) you may wonder what caused you to develop the disorder. Rather than there being a single contributing factor, it is likely a complex interchange of factors that results in the disorder.

Matthew Butler @butler

1. Genetics: Up until this point, researchers have not discovered a specific hereditary composition connected to Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). However, they have in any case; discovered particular chromosomes connected to other anxiety disorders, for example, agoraphobia and panic disorder.

2. Environmental: The psychosocial causes of social anxiety disorder (SAD) include factors in the environment that influence you as you grow up. In the event that one of a parent has social anxiety disorder (SAD), then the child is most likely to develop the disorder. The upbringing also impacts the likelihood that an individual will develop SAD and a child is most likely to develop the disorder if:

• The child is not exposed to enough social situations and were not permitted to develop appropriate social skills.
• If their parents were rejecting, controlling, critical and overprotective.

3. Brain structure: When experiencing anxiety, four areas of the brain is involved:

• The brain stem which controls the heart rate and breathing.
• The limbic system that influences the mood and anxiety level.
• The prefrontal cortex that helps to judge risk and danger.
• The motor cortex that controls the muscles. 

References
ADAA. (2018). Social Anxiety Disorder. Retrieved 9 July, 2019, from https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/social-anxiety-disorder

WebMD. (2019). What Is Social Anxiety Disorder?. Retrieved 9 July, 2019, from https://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/mental-health-social-anxiety-disorder

Winchester Hospital. (2019). Risk Factors for Social Anxiety Disorder. Retrieved 9 July, 2019, from https://www.winchesterhospital.org/health-library/article?id=20196

Verywellmind. (2019). Understanding the Causes of Social Anxiety Disorder. Retrieved 9 July, 2019, from https://www.verywellmind.com/social-anxiety-disorder-causes-3024749