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Social Anxiety Symptoms: A Quick Overview
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Jan 3, 2023
In this video, we summarize the different symptoms of social anxiety disorder, also known as social phobia. We start with differentiating it from introversion and shyness, and then we provide a complete list of symptoms that socially anxious people often struggle with. Specifically, we dive into the most commonly feared social situations, the most commonly experienced physical symptoms, and four very typical behaviors often observed in people with social anxiety. If you are wondering whether you are affected by social anxiety, feel free to take the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale - one of the most commonly applied instruments to measure the degree of people's social anxiety. You can take it for free on our website: https://www.conquersocialanxiety.com/social-anxiety-test/ #socialanxiety #anxiety #shyness
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Hey there, let's cut right to the chase
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Here are the most frequent and also some less frequent symptoms of social anxiety disorder
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also known as social phobia. Just as a quick note, while I am a psychologist, this video is made for educational purposes only
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and does not replace professional medical advice. Please consult your physician, psychiatrist or other qualified mental health professional
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if you suffer from social anxiety or any other mental health difficulty. Social anxiety is often confused with introversion and shyness
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because it can resemble these two concepts in outward appearance and in terms of its symptoms
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However, there are important differences. First, social anxiety is based on a fear of negative evaluation, which means that people with
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social phobia are very concerned about being judged or disapproved of by others
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In contrast, introversion can be better understood in terms of social energy
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If being around other people or in larger groups drains your internal batteries and you need
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a lot of time to recharge from these activities, but you do not experience excessive fear of being judged
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by others in social situations. Then you are probably just introverted, which is a totally
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normal personality trait and nothing to worry about. When comparing social anxiety to shyness
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things get a little more complicated. These two concepts overlap significantly, but they are not
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the same. While fear of being judged does not play a major role in introversion, it does in shy people
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Shy people tend to be concerned about how they appear and how others may view their behavior
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which causes them to feel somewhat inhibited in social situations, especially when they meet new people
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or when they're around people they don't know very well. The key difference between shyness
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and social anxiety is the degree to which the concern about how they come across affects the person
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and their life. In short, although shyness can be uncomfortable at times, people who are just shy
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and do not have social anxiety can go about their daily lives and pursue their personal and professional
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goals. Although shy people may feel uncomfortable in different social situations, their shyness does not
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really prevent them from living their lives. And this is very different for people with social anxiety
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Social phobia, whether you experience it in only one or very few social situations
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or whether it affects you in most or virtually all social settings is far more debilitating than
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shyness. Because their insecurity in social situations is so intense, socially anxious people often
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have to choose between experiencing severe distress and anxiety when confronted with a feared situation
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or avoiding it altogether. And both options are very inconvenient. It is emotionally
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draining to experience this anxiety on an ongoing basis and avoidance of the
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feared situations tends to increase anxiety in the long run. So in summary the worry about being negatively evaluated is much more intense for people with social anxiety than for those who are just shy Alright next I will summarize the specific symptoms and social situations that people with social phobia most often fear However I want you to keep in mind here that the majority of people with social anxiety
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usually experience only a handful of them. It is very rare that someone is affected by most of them, although these cases also exist
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So let's take a look at them. First of all has to go public speaking. This fear is so common that even people without social anxiety often declared as their number
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one fear in life, even before the fear of death. Yes, you heard right, fear of public speaking
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ranks ahead of the fear of death, at least among college students. Then there's the fear
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of being the center of attention, which is something most people with social anxiety struggle
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with. And it makes sense, of course. Receiving the attention of others increases the chances
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of being judged. Some people may fear saying something stupid, others may be afraid of acting
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inappropriately, others may worry about showing physical symptoms of anxiety such as blushing
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sweating or trembling, just to name a few. There are many situations. that can fall into this category, such as presenting something to a group of people, reading
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aloud to others, performing something and being watched, walking into a room where others are
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already seated, being asked a question when you are in a group, among many other situations
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Many socially anxious people also fear direct eye contact, especially holding eye contact for a
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while often seems impossible for many affected people. Others may worry about eating or drinking
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in public places. They may worry about the sounds they make when chewing or swallowing
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shaking hands or otherwise committing a social faux par. For some people the fear may also
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center on being seen alone in a restaurant, believing it may seem odd that they have no company
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so others might assume they have no friends or that they are boring people. A small proportion of
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people with social anxiety worry about riding while being watched, believing that they might be
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judged for making a mistake or for having shaky hands. And then there are a whole host of situations
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that many people with social anxiety fear, such as talking to authority figures like a superior at work
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for example. Being criticized by others is often a dreaded situation, which makes sense since
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being criticized means you are being judged and negatively evaluated in some way. Then
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meeting strangers and going to parties is often very uncomfortable for people with social
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phobia, especially for those who have little confidence in their social skills, which means
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they feel they will seem weird, socially inept, boring and so on. Similarly, many socially
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anxious people fear having to engage in small talk, especially those who are convinced that they
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lack the social skills to do so. Many, for example, are completely. are convinced that others will find them boring because they will quickly run out of things to say
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or because others might think that their topics or conversation are not interesting enough and so on
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And with this in mind it is also easy to imagine how dating can be very difficult for people with social anxiety
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Even people without social anxiety tend to feel nervous on a first date and wonder how they will come across These worries can be extreme in people with social anxiety which of course leads many to avoid these situations altogether or others to consume alcohol on such occasions or at parties as well
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to reduce their distress and appear more sociable, outgoing and interesting. Then of course there are
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all sorts of situations in which it is necessary to initiate a conversation with others
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These can be objectively simple things such as asking for directions in public, but they can also be vital
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things such as calling the doctor's office to make an important appointment. In fact, some people with social anxiety are particularly concerned about phone calls and often
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try to avoid them at all costs. And there are a host of other specific fears like this that can be named here
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For example, using public restrooms as people with social anxiety may fear not being able
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to go in the presence of other people who might then notice that they can't go and judge
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them as a result. A similar phenomenon can often be seen in terms of sexual performance anxiety where
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the person may worry so much about a possible disqualable. disappointing performance, that their sexual drive disappears as soon as they are getting intimate
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with another person. And this of course is related to what I mentioned a moment ago, and that socially anxious
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people can get caught up in attempts to combat and reduce their physical symptoms of anxiety
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such as blushing, sweating, erasing heart and so on, which most of the time has paradoxical
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effects and tends to exacerbate these symptoms rather than reduce them. And speaking of these physical symptoms of social anxiety, let's also take a quick look at the
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most common ones here. Some of these symptoms may be noticeable to others, which is often very uncomfortable for those affected
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For example, when others notice that they blush or seem nervous. And other symptoms may not be
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noticeable to others, but can still be very uncomfortable, such as feeling nauseous or dizzy
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For example, tachycardia is very common, meaning that the heart starts to raise
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which is often accompanied by rapid breathing, a shaky voice, trembling hands or limbs, and so on
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Many people with social anxiety are concerned about excessive sweating, which can occur
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anywhere such as the palms of the hands, the face, the torso, the legs and so on
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And of course, as I've already mentioned, facial blushing is often a concern for people
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with social anxiety. And then there are all kinds of physical sensations such as dizziness
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lightheadedness, nausea, ringing in the ears, dry mouth, sudden feeling of being very hot or
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very cold, tightness in the chest or feeling of choking, and then also stuttering or the
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inability to speak or to get the words out, among many other possible symptoms
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But this list should give you a good idea of the symptoms that people with social anxiety often experience. So we've talked about the types of social situations
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that people with social anxiety are often afraid of and we've pointed out the most common
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physical symptoms that often accompany this fear However this video would not be complete without mentioning four very typical behaviors of people with social anxiety I already alluded to the tendency to avoid fear social situations and this is probably
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the most obvious one. But there's another type of behavior that may qualify as avoidance, but it is much less obvious
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Psychologists refer to it as safety behaviors. People who resort to safety behaviors actually seek exposure to the feared situation
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However, they do not confront it head on. Instead, they may engage in some type of behavior that reduces the anxiety and
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chances of being judged. For example, someone may feel insecure about joining an ongoing group
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conversation, so they may pull out their cell phone and pretend to be scrolling through their
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social media feed. In this way, others may perceive them as busy and socially engaged elsewhere
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which in this person's mind may reduce the discomfort of not fully participating in the group
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These safety behaviors are very common. Of course, they always depend on the particular
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situation the person is afraid of. For example, someone may prepare excuses to leave the situation
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if the anxiety becomes too intense. Another person may put on excessive makeup to cover their facial
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blushing and then as I mentioned earlier, drinking alcohol is very common to reduce distress related
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to social events such as at parties. And finally there are two important symptoms of social anxiety
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that occur before and after the feared social situations. On the one hand there is anticipatory
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anxiety which refers to excessive worry about an upcoming situation. Most commonly people with social
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anxiety tend to imagine all the things that could go wrong, imagining worst-case
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scenarios. In short, they get carried away by the anxiety, often already days or even weeks
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before a feared situation. On the other hand, their so-called post-event processing. It refers
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to excessive rumination on past social situations. Why did I say that? I should have done this
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and that. Oh my god, now they must be thinking I'm super shy. Thoughts like this often dominate the
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thinking of people with social anxiety after they have been through a situation they experienced
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as stressful or uncomfortable or even as humiliating. And while other people without social anxiety
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may experience thoughts like this sometimes, they do not get caught up in them as do socially
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anxious people. Okay, there you have it. These are the most typical symptoms of social anxiety disorder
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If you think you may be affected, I invite you to take a look at our channel and our website
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In the description you will find a link to one of the most widely applied tests for social
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anxiety, which will give you an idea of whether or not you are affected if this is something
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you are trying to figure out right now. And of course, most importantly, please talk to your doctor
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a psychiatrist or another qualified mental health professional if you think you need help. Thank you for
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watching and all the best for you
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