Social Phobia in Adolescence and Childhood

Anyone can feel nervous or anxious about having to perform on a given occasion. However, when this nervousness becomes a patterned response in life it may raise to the level of a condition referred to as Social Phobia. The fear of being scrutinized by others occurring in the symptoms of anxiety, raise to the level of Social Phobia if the avoidance of the situation, the anxious anticipation or distress experienced during a performance or situation significantly interferes with a person's life. Social Phobia is related to the individual's lack of self esteem, lack of confidence, and lack of internal sense of structure. It may be a shame-based phenomenon; particularly when it is related to trauma. Social Phobia is painful, is very limiting, and has an addictive component to it. When a socially phobic individual is receiving treatment they are likely to be working on developing social coping skills that assist them in getting through a difficult situation as well as attending to the internal issues that contribute to their vulnerability for this condition. These issues are likely to involve a lacking in any ability to soothe themselves and propensity towards self-criticism whenever an anxious state is experienced.

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