Social Anxiety In Specific Contexts
by Scotch Q. Ennis
The third most frequent mental health dysfunction in the US, only behind first alcoholism and then depression, is social anxiety. This is rather a shock, if for no other reason than social anxiety generates such a small amount of recognition among the general US population. But recognized or not, social anxiety has a significant presence: between seven and fourteen percent of people in the US population have social anxiety.
Social anxiety can be defined as a feeling of upset or fear or dread in a social setting. The negative feelings the individual with social anxiety feels in social settings are primarily caused by feelings of scrutiny and jugement, with the results ultimately being negative. Social anxiety can be expressed in people differently, in the forms of generalized social anxiety or context specific social anxiety.
Context specific social anxiety occurs when an individual is in a social situation that causes him or her to feel a strong sense of performance obligation. Particular social circumstances that may trigger an anxious reaction include job interviews, romantic dates, being introduced to persons of importance, and public speaking engagements. Certainly there are other social circumstances that can trigger an anxious reaction as well.
The trigger for context specific social anxiety is a belief that particular circumstances are especially important, and must be capably handled. As an example, a specific job may be perceived as critical to a person's career, or even to their ability to survive. Given this, the corresponding job interview becomes highly important, and the weight of performing well during the interview can lead to an anxious reaction.
Public speaking has a reputation for eliciting anxious reactions. In fact, speaking to a gathering is sometimes referred to as the thing people fear most. Public speaking usually isn't consequentially significant -- life or state of mind aren't typically on the line. The fear in public speaking comes from being singled out in front of others and having to "perform" while under consideration. Looking at it this way, it's easy to understand why speaking in public typically causes strong anxious reactions.
Prior to entering a stressful social situation, people with context specific social anxiety often seek out some form of coping method. Coping is well and good, healthy even -- depending upon the method of coping that's used. Many people with context specific social anxiety will consume alcohol to ease their anxiety. At its core this strategy represents dependence, and for that reason should be avoided.
Context specific social anxiety is not uncommon, and occasional occurrences of social anxiety in specific circumstances isn't something to be terribly concerned about. When anxiety in specific social situations becomes a regular occurrence, however, treatment is called for. Fortunately, social anxiety is a highly treatable condition, and treatment for social anxiety is both available and accessible.
You can find online help for social anxiety disorder at social anxiety treatment. Read additional articles of interest at article exchange directory. You can get a unique content version of this article.
|
