Social Anxiety Support - Announcements Regarding Social Anxiety Support

Social anxiety is a feeling of nervousness, fear, or trepidation about social interaction and presentation. Often, the major concern about social anxiety is a concern that one will be judged negatively by other people, regardless of whether this is actually the case. The experience of occasional, mild social anxiety is quite common, as is the experience of anxiety in general. Social anxiety can range from a relatively benign, infrequent level of severity to being a major obstruction in everyday life. Social Anxiety Disorder or Social Phobia are mental health diagnoses used to explain a level of social anxiety that is so upsetting, excessive, or pervasive that it is significantly interfering with an individual's quality of life. The feared or avoided situations in Social Phobia can be very narrow and specific.

Social anxiety can often seem cumbersome or even disturbing to understand as a single concept. Social anxiety could be due to blushing, sweating, racing heart, shaking or tremor dry mouth, shortness of breath or due to fainting. There are a number of help centers that help in overcoming social anxiety. Following professional associations have comprehensive websites that provide information, resources, and contact information that may assist our efforts in working with Social Phobia. Some also provide referrals to professionals who can work with this problem.

Academy of Cognitive Therapy (http://www.academyofct.org)

American Psychological Association (http://www.apa.org)

American Psychiatric Association (http://www.healthyminds.org/locateapsychiatrist.cfm)

Anxiety Disorders Association of America (http://www.adaa.org)

Anxiety Disorders Association of Canada (http://www.anxietycanada.ca)

Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (http://www.abct.org)

Canadian Psychological Association (http://www.cpa.ca)

These websites can help us get regular updates about social anxiety disorder and help us spread awareness even if it is at the grass root level. Although there are dozens of treatments that have been claimed to be useful for anxiety-based problems, only a small number of these have actually been found to be effective in systematic scientific studies based on individuals suffering with Social Phobia. These include medication treatments, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and combinations of these approaches.

Psychiatrists are physicians who have completed specialty training in mental health. Because of their medical background, psychiatrists are often especially skilled at considering the physical aspects of anxiety disorders and prescribing appropriate medication treatments where needed. While psychiatric training programs often focus on psychopharmacology (treatment using psychiatric drugs), many also have training in providing psychotherapy (including cognitive-behavioral therapy).

Clinical social workers have completed graduate training in mental health. While clinical social workers can provide psychotherapy and some assessments, many also have particular knowledge and skill in helping individuals from a social and community perspective - for instance, between clients with needed social assistance programs or working with families in need of help.

Other professionals may also be able to help you in coping with Social Phobia. These individuals can comprise on our general practice physician, professional counselors, psychiatric nurses and nurse practitioners, and members of the clergy. As with any professional (including psychologists, psychiatrists, and clinical social workers), it is important to assess whether the practitioner is experienced in treating anxiety problems using evidence based approaches - especially cognitive-behavioral treatments and medications.

• Emma Bullock
• 12/04/2009, 10:59 PM
• 0 Comments