Social anxiety disorder refers to a condition where an individual feels or experiences anxiety due to his expectation of negative reactions from others. Everyday social situations can cause extreme anxiety in these people. Most of these people find it difficult to interact with strangers and start finding excuses to avoid the situations where they might meet strangers. Such people may find it difficult to eat in the company of others and in worse conditions of social phobias they will find it difficult to even write a cheque at a store.
Social anxiety disorder is a serious mental illness that requires treatment. People affected by this health disorder start developing a sort of phobia when they are in the company of others. He/ she believes that all the members in the group are engaged in watching or judging him. Such a feeling can make the person nervous and he expects only negative reactions from the people surrounding him.
Symptoms of social anxiety disorder include extreme fear of being in the company of strangers, fear of situations where you are going to be judged by others, worries about embarrassing or humiliating situations, a feeling that others are watching the nervousness you are experiencing, disruption of day to day activities, avoiding the situations where you have to speak in public and
avoiding the situation where you become the center of attraction.
The physical symptoms expressed by these people who suffer from social anxiety disorder include blushing, excessive sweating, problems in making eye contact with others, cold, clammy hands, heart palpitations, muscle pain or tension, shaky voice, nausea, trembling with fear, difficulty in talking and diarrhea.
If you are a person affected by this mental disorder you will start developing a sort of low self esteem and trouble in being assertive in situations that demand you to be assertive. You will start talking negative about yourself and may become hypersensitive to criticism.
The identified causes of social anxiety disorder include genes, biochemistry and fear of responses. Researches are still going on to locate the genes that play a role in transferring the fear and anxiety from generations to generations. Researches believe that certain chemicals present in your body can be a cause behind developing social anxiety disorder in human beings. It is found that chemicals like serotonin that regulates the mood and emotions can cause social anxiety disorder in men. Researchers also believe that people who have a hyperactive amygdale, a structure in the brain that controls fear response, can develop social anxiety disorder.
