Though it is not as alarming as, say, an episode of an anxiety attack, social anxiety – or social phobia as some circles call the condition – is nevertheless a kind of disorder that impairs our enjoyment of life. As such, social anxiety must be remedied so that we can experience life as it is meant to be experienced. Thankfully, there are a variety of social anxiety treatments we can resort to.
But before we can discuss the different kinds of social anxiety treatments one can resort to, let us first discuss the nature of the problem – particularly, what exactly is this thing called social anxiety or social phobia?
Social anxiety is, in essence, the fear of interacting with people. It has different manifestations. An adult male may experience severely anxious moments when faced with the prospect of talking to someone from the opposite sex. A person may feel tensed when traversing a crowded avenue. An adult female may always feel that she is being watched and observed whenever she is in a room with people. All of these point to social anxiety – the feeling of emotional discomfort, paranoia, and/or concern whenever the subject is placed in situations where he is expected to socialize with other people.
Social anxiety is not a disorder, per se. It is, in fact, a normal part of growing up. Social anxiety is quite common for young children up to their adolescent years. It is only when such social phobia continues way past that point that it is considered as a disorder.
Social phobia can be remedied via a variety of social anxiety treatments. These treatments include the following:
- Continuous immersion. Of all the social anxiety treatments, this is the most common and the most efficient. The subject is placed in social situations and is allowed to develop the skills which he should have developed upon reaching adolescence. Guidance helps, but is not required. The subject is expected to eventually feel comfortable with social situations when he is forcibly pushed into such environments.
- Reinforcement. Reinforcement comes in a variety of forms. “Reality check” statements, by far, are the most effective of these social anxiety treatments. “What’s there to lose,” “what’s the worst thing that can happen,” and “no pain, no gain” are the most popular of such statements. They may be gung ho in approach, but they are true and they remind the subject of the real score. Another popular form of reinforcement places the subject in a position of ascension so that his insecurities will be kept in check. When speaking to a large crowd, for example, the shy public speaker is often advised to picture his audience naked. This way, his “fears” would be reversed as, in his mind, the crowd has more reason to be embarrassed than him.
- Pinpointing cause and manipulating effects. Yet another one of the more popular social anxiety treatments involve intervention. Group therapies usually employ the approach of determining the cause of one’s social phobia so that it can be “cured” and “corrected.” The first step in this kind of social anxiety treatment is acceptance. The subject is asked to accept that the problem does exist. Thereafter, the subject’s history is traced until a causal connection between a potential root and the existing problem can be established.
These are just some of the more common social anxiety treatments. Indeed, they may sound simplistic. That’s because social phobia is, in reality, a simple problem. What makes it complicated is that most people refuse to realize that it is, in fact, a problem.
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