What Causes Social Anxiety?

It is highly debatable as to what exactly causes social anxiety. Many researchers are continuing to study this disorder and relay some of the causes of social anxiety or social phobia to genetic factors, biochemistry, and fear responses.

• Genetics- Many researchers believe that social anxiety runs in families and is passed on genetically
• Biochemistry- An imbalance of Serotonin may also be a factor relating to the causes of social anxiety. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter responsible for regulating mood and emotions
• Fear Response- The Amygdala is responsible for sensations of fear or fight or flight experience. Often, people can have an overactive amygdala which may also be a cause of social anxiety

 While the root causes of social anxiety may be debatable, there are several methods of treatment that mental health professionals can agree on that work to alleviate social anxiety disorder.

Group therapy is one of the more common methods of treatment that target social anxiety disorder. Group therapy can be extremely effective because other members of the group can relate to one another and offer additional support. While the initial group session or two may actually stimulate anxiety, it is the willingness of the individual to participate in this therapy that greatly increases the rate of success.

Another effective method of treating social anxiety is exposure therapy. Many mental health professionals claim that exposure therapy is too invasive and can result in a traumatic experience. However, studies show that those who complete a minimal amount of exposure therapy sessions have high rates of recovery.

Exposure therapy resembles its title in that patients are exposed to situations that evoke feelings of anxiety. The therapist will then talk the client through the emotions while allowing them to feel the anxiety. Being allowed to feel the anxiety instead of avoidance is key so that the social anxiety suffer can come to terms with the anxiety. Through continuous exposure to situations that trigger anxiety, the levels of anxiety begin to reduce dramatically in that the suffer has a realization that while the anxiety is uncomfortable, it is not harmful.

While I highly recommend therapy as a means of treating social anxiety disorder; given the proper tools, information and support, we can often find our own solution to our problems. This is actually the fundamentals of therapy anyway- a therapist guides us through self discovery and allows us the space while providing support to find our own solution!

Ask any therapist and they will tell you, the client does the work, the therapist is just there as a guide. That being said, there are several self-help programs available that can walk you through social anxiety and deliver you on the other side- anxiety free.

Though there are many of these programs available, there is only one in particular that I would recommend- Panic Away. This is a program that is based off the principles and fundamentals of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). That's important because many programs are put together lacking key principles and any evidenced based curriculum. Panic Away utilizes fundamentally sound strategies to target the anxiety and guides you through the process of self discovery which ultimately leads to social anxiety relief.

I hope this information was helpful. For more information on social anxiety disorder you can visit my blog at http://www.socialanxietyrelief.blogspot.com.

References

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/social-anxiety-disorder/DS00595/DSECTION=causes

http://www.socialphobia.org/