{"id":73221,"date":"2024-06-18T00:04:23","date_gmt":"2024-06-18T04:04:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=73221"},"modified":"2025-04-01T15:16:58","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T19:16:58","slug":"when-others-are-hell-how-to-identify-and-manage-social-anxiety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/when-others-are-hell-how-to-identify-and-manage-social-anxiety\/","title":{"rendered":"When Others Are Hell: How to Identify and Manage Social Anxiety"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Marta is a 20-year-old student who has always been shy. But that shyness has intensified so much that it sometimes interferes with everyday activities. Since high school, she began to experience an overwhelming fear of being judged negatively by her peers and teachers.<\/p>\n

Now, at university, Marta feels extremely anxious when she knows she will have to give a presentation in class. The night before, she can barely sleep due to his\u00a0<\/span>intrusive thoughts<\/span><\/a>\u00a0about her possible mistakes and the teasing of her classmates. She anticipates all the criticism and feels butterflies in her stomach.<\/span><\/p>\n

Marta also experiences these symptoms in class. She usually places herself in the furthest rows and tries to leave a free space to her left and to her right. Additionally, she avoids participating in social activities for fear of saying something inappropriate or not knowing how to act. She prefers to stay at home studying or watching series.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Marta isn’t actually shy: she suffers from social anxiety, a disorder that affects approximately\u00a0<\/span>9% of women and 7% of men each year<\/span><\/a>\u00a0.<\/span><\/p>\n

How can we detect it?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Also known as\u00a0<\/span>social phobia<\/span><\/a>\u00a0, social anxiety is characterized by an intense and persistent fear of social situations or performances in which the person feels they may be judged, evaluated, or humiliated by others.<\/span><\/p>\n

And how is it different then from shyness? Well, this is just a personality tendency with respect to certain behaviors and thoughts, while social anxiety can be defined as a disabling psychological disorder and assigned to a diagnosis validated by the scientific community.<\/span><\/p>\n

It should also be distinguished from other anxiety problems. Performing a differential diagnosis involves exploring the similarities and, especially, the differences regarding the symptoms that have brought a patient to the consultation. Some\u00a0<\/span>scientific articles<\/span><\/a>\u00a0indicate that the situations that trigger these symptoms and their impact on daily life are two reliable aspects to carry out the previous analysis.<\/span><\/p>\n

If we look at the\u00a0<\/span>panic attack<\/span><\/a>\u00a0, for example, the triggers are diffuse, while in the disorder in question they are social situations or situations that involve public speaking, eating or drinking in front of others. In a panic attack, subsequent fear is associated with the possibility of suffering another episode, while in social anxiety it is the fear of negative social evaluation that maintains the fear.<\/span><\/p>\n

Something similar occurs when comparing it with generalized anxiety disorder. In the latter case, fear is linked to the possible catastrophes that may occur, but they do not have to be framed in a social context. On the other hand, the impact on daily life does not consist of avoiding meetings or moments of public exposure, but rather the person with generalized anxiety experiences diffuse difficulty in controlling their worry, which generates persistent symptoms such as muscle tension, fatigue. and lack of sleep.<\/span><\/p>\n

How does the brain of a person with social anxiety work?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In general terms, the nervous system of the affected individual learns to be alert in social situations or, simply, in the face of the possibility of an encounter with other people. It translates into the following processes:<\/span><\/p>\n