1. SOCIAL ANXIETY
Samrah

2. What is it?
 Social anxiety (also known as social phobia):
 Social anxiety is the fear of social situations and the interaction
with other people that can automatically bring on feelings of selfconsciousness, judgment, evaluation, and inferiority.
 About 15 million of adult Americans in
any given year are suffer from
social anxiety
(Anonymous, 2010).

3. For example

4. The Third Largest Mental Health
Care Problem
 In the United States, epidemiological studies have
recently pegged social anxiety disorder as the third
largest psychological problem in the country, after
depression and alcoholism.
 It is estimated that 7-8% of the population suffers
from some form of social anxiety at the present
time. The lifetime prevalence rate for developing
social anxiety disorder is 13-14%.

5. Types of social
anxiety

6. Specific anxiety
 A specific social anxiety would be the
fear of speaking in front of groups
(only).

7. Generalized anxiety
whereas people with generalized social anxiety are
anxious, nervous, and uncomfortable in almost all
social situations.

8. Triggering Symptoms
 People with social anxiety usually
experience significant distress in the
following situations.

9. Being introduced to other people

10. Being teased

11. Being the centre of attention

12. Being watched while doing
something

13. Meeting people in authority

14. Emotional Symptoms
 high levels of fear
 nervousness
 racing heart
 blushing
 excessive
sweating
 dry throat
 Trembling
 muscle twitches.

15. ANDREW KUKES FOUNDATION OF SOCIAL ANXIETY
.

16. Personality approaches
to social anxiety

17. .
 Psychoanalytical approach
 Trait approach
 Biological approach
 Humanistic approach
 Cognitive –behavioural &social
learning approach (CBT)

18. Psychoanalitic Approach
 Classical psychoanalytic theory:
mental health problems arise as a result of
repressed unconscious desires from
childhood

19.  Psychoanalysts treat social anxiety
.
disorders by helping the
individual understand what is
making them anxious.

20. .
 Individuals talk freely about
themselves and attempt to
overcome inner conflicts.

21. Trait Theory
 Various traits combine = a personality that is unique to




each individual.
Focused on identifying and measuring these individual
personality characteristics
People with characteristics that fall at an extreme on the
chart are likely to have a psychological abnormality
associated with that trait.
They are then likely to select their environment in such
a way that this trait is brought out.
To keep this from happening, psychologists teach their
patients to come to terms with the flawed trait, allowing
the patient to break the cycle

22. Biological Approach
 S.A.D sufferers:
 show increased activity in the amygdala
(i.e., a structure deep inside the brain that generally
shows more activity in response to threatening or
fearful events)
 show decreased activity in cortical areas
(i.e., the outer portion of the brain that is involved in
planning and the complex interpretation of events).
 People who are very sociable tend to have increased levels of
dopamine.

23. Biological Approach

24. Biological Treatment
 There are a number of medications that
have proven useful for treating social
anxiety disorder. These medications
include:
Antidepressants,
Antianxiety,
Gabapentin (Neurontin),

25. Humanistic Approach
 Mission:
 point the individual in the direction of inbuilt potentials
and resources
 Hopeful Result:
 help them to build a stronger personality and self-concept
 Therapist is considered a “guide”
 Mindfulness and acceptance techniques + traditional
behavior therapy (humanistic approach) = effective
treatment (George, 2008)

26. Cognitive-Behavioral & Social
Learning Approach (CBT)
 Helps patients:
 uncover the underlying causes of your worries and
fears;
 learn how to relax;
 look at situations in new, less frightening ways;
 develop better coping and problem-solving skills
 give patients the tools to overcome anxiety and teach
them how to use them.

27. Medical University of South
Carolina Study:
 CBT was superior to biological
treatments (medication) in the long
run
 CBT had more successes than the
other four approaches (Würz, et al., 2009).

28. Conclusion: Best Approach
 Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: Why?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Past higher success rates
Positive study results
More advantages compared to other
approaches
fewer disadvantages compared to advantages
No judgment, just programs geared towards
patient progress.

29. Therapy (Treatment)

30. Does your therapist say, "Face
your fears and they’ll go away?"
Sorry, but this therapist does not understand
the dynamics of social anxiety.
But this can be stopped, quenched, and
killed in a relatively short period of time – by
finding a cognitive-behavioural therapist
who understands and specializes in the
treatment of social anxiety.

31. The most important elements in
overcoming social anxiety are
followings:

32. 1. An understanding and awareness of the
problem .

33. 2. A commitment to carry
through with cognitive
behaviour therapy even when it
is seems difficult.

34. 3. Practice, practice, practice to get
that information (i.e., cognitive
methods, strategies, and concepts)
deep down into your brain - so that
these cognitive methods become
habitual and automatic.

35. 4. Participation in a social anxiety
therapy group in which you can
slowly and gradually work on
problems that cause you anxiety in
the real world.

36. Medication
 For social anxiety, research indicates use of the
anti-anxiety agents, and (perhaps) certain
antidepressants in conjunction with CBT have
proven most beneficial .
 Medication without the use of active, structured
cognitive- behavioural therapy has no long-term
benefits.
 Only CBT can change the neural pathway
associations in the brain permanently.

37. GROUPS
 Therapy groups for social anxiety should
always be encouraging, positive, and
supportive.
 If the right atmosphere is set, people can
make (and continue to make) progress up
their "hierarchy" of social anxieties.

38. Compliance with Cognitivebehavioural Therapy
 Cognitive- behavioural (rational) therapy is not
difficult to do, and has not been seen this way by
participants.
 The first factor in not complying with the therapy
is that "I can't remember to do it every day" and "I
have a hard time committing to something in
which I don't see immediate results".
 The psychologist or group leader should have
time-tested solutions to these irrational
arguments.

39. Prognosis
 Prognosis is markedly good. People completing
CBT training report a high success rate, compared
to control groups.
 In the National Institute of Mental Health
longitudinal studies, people continued to report
progress after CBT behavioural group therapy was
over.
 Studies repeatedly indicate that treatment
compatibility (i.e., did the person carry out the
prescribed therapy?) is the key element in success.

41. A Big Problem
 Lack of professional and knowledgeable therapists
is the biggest and most relevant problem to
overcoming social anxiety. While it can be done,
and a vast amount of clinical and research
evidence supports this, overcoming social anxiety
is difficult because of the scarcity of treatment
facilities for people with this persistent anxiety
disorder.