Social Anxiety vs The World

If you google social anxiety you’ll get over 900 million results. Do the same for Taylor Swift and you’ll receive 665 million.

Taylor Swift only gets 665 million

Both are obviously huge problems of our time, but social anxiety wins the popularity contest.

(At this moment, tween Swifties are assembling a hit squad of highly-trained assassins and heading for my house.)

But what exactly is social anxiety, why is it so common, and how the hell do we beat it?

A brief history and definition.

Difficulty in social situations is nothing new. Shyness has been around long enough for Hippocrates to describe it. In the early 20th century, the term Social Phobia sprung up. This morphed into the term we use today – Social Anxiety Disorder.

Psychologists did very little research on the topic until at least the 1980s. Strange, when you think of how many people are sufferers.

According to the NHS in the UK, “Social anxiety disorder, also called Social Phobia, is a long-term and overwhelming fear of social situations.” This article goes on to say, “It’s a common problem that usually starts during the teenage years. It can be very distressing and have a big impact on your life”.

So. Being a teenager then?

Well, no.

The Symptoms

Social protection - commonly known as the Hoodie

Social anxiety goes way beyond the usual teenage shyness. Or any shyness.

The Mayo clinic details this laundry list of symptoms:

• · Fear of situations in which you may be judged negatively

• · Worry about embarrassing or humiliating yourself

• · Intense fear of interacting or talking with strangers

• · Fear that others will notice that you look anxious

• · Fear of physical symptoms that may cause you embarrassment, such as blushing, sweating, trembling, or having a shaky voice

• · Avoidance of doing things or speaking to people out of fear of embarrassment

• · Avoidance of situations where you might be the center of attention

• · Anxiety in anticipation of a feared activity or event

• · Intense fear or anxiety during social situations

• · Analysis of your performance and identification of flaws in your interactions after a social situation

• · Expectation of the worst possible consequences from a negative experience during a social situation

Add to these internal symptoms a multitude of real physical ones such as shaking, sweating, and blushing right through to heart palpitations and full-blown panic attacks, and social anxiety is no joke.

If that’s not enough, and perhaps unsurprisingly, social anxiety often connects itself to other conditions such as Glossophobia (the fear of public speaking) and Agoraphobia (the fear of going anywhere ‘unsafe’ i.e. Outside).

This piling of one fear on top of another can create a downward spiral into serious mental illness.

How widespread is it?

According to the US National Institutes of Health, an astonishing 12.1% of citizens will suffer some form of social anxiety during their lifetimes. An estimated 7.1% had issues in the last year.

The Stats are alarmingly high for social anxiety

According to this past-year chart from 2001-2003, women are more likely to suffer than men. The good news appears to be that the condition becomes less prevalent as people age. The bad news is that social anxiety affects so many of us.

At what point does it become social anxiety?

‘The Social Anxiety Spectrum’ (Schneider, F.R et al – 2002) states that social anxiety exists on a spectrum and that “Strong evidence exists that at least some forms of shyness, avoidant personality disorder, and selective mutism lie on a social anxiety disorder spectrum”.

Basically, it is hard to measure or define exactly, and perhaps as a result, many more people suffer in silence than the official figures suggest.

This all makes sense. Most of us have social situations where we feel uncomfortable: job interviews, public speaking or performing, busy shopping periods, family get-togethers, visits to the doctor or dentist… Sometimes these might even tip over into phobias. Sometimes they don’t.

Pushdoctor.co.uk lists the 10 biggest phobias in the UK, and of those, public speaking, fear of flying, crowds and being outside, and enclosed spaces all have a social element to them.

Treatment?

When a problem is hard to define or exists on a spectrum, finding a solution can be equally difficult.

Since this is a cognitive disorder, top of the list would often be psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, or medication, such as beta-blockers or anti-depressants. For severe sufferers, these might be the only solution that works. They are also usually prohibitively expensive.

For some, therapy is out of reach

Other recommendations, according to the Mayo Clinic include:

• · Learning stress reduction skills.

• · Get physical exercise or be physically active on a regular basis.

• · Get enough sleep.

• · Eat a healthy, well-balanced diet.

• · Avoid alcohol.

• · Limit or avoid caffeine.

• Participate in social situations by reaching out to people with whom you feel comfortable.

Post Covid lockdown anxiety.

A dream street for sufferers.

The coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdowns gave many of us a break from the treadmill of social interaction – the claustrophobic commutes, crowded offices full of people we might not like, the expectation to participate in more social events etc.

Many experienced re-entry anxiety. This can come from “becoming comfortable with social distancing and the remote lifestyle”.

We get good at what we do regularly, and when things change, we have to adapt. This can be difficult. After all, we are creatures of habit.

So what to do with a condition that negatively impacts 10% of our population?

The sad truth is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach.

But here’s one little piece of information that might help you next time you are in a crowded train or stuck at a work party or in a busy shopping centre.

Go back to this?

Most of the time, nobody is looking at you. Most won’t even notice you.

And remember that 10% of the people around you are probably going through the same thing.

Don’t focus on yourself. Empathise with them instead – even if you don’t know who they are.

Sometimes getting out of your own thoughts and putting your focus onto others can take the edge off.

That spiral of negative thinking is all internal. Project outwards.

Even more importantly, be really glad you’re not Taylor Swift.

All photos from Wix.com

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