What is the experience of social fear?
The daily psychological activities of people with social phobia
The reaction to greeting strangers
Order takeout
When cue to introduce himself
Meet acquaintances in public
When unfamiliar people want to invite you to dinner
When facing relatives
Recently, a new drug of "social phobia" landed in China's clinical trial for the first time: PH94B nasal spray clinical trial application was approved for the treatment of anxiety symptoms of adult social anxiety disorder.
Many people are curious: is social fear really a disease? Life Times (search for "LT0385" within WeChat to follow) interviews experts to answer your questions about whether social phobia requires medication and how to alleviate social phobia.
Experts interviewed
Liu Yang, psychotherapist of the Department of Clinical Psychology, Beijing Huilongguan Hospital
Social anxiety ≠ social phobia
Many people consider themselves to be a "social terrorist.". However, the "social phobia" that everyone thinks of may be just social anxiety, far from reaching the level of social phobia.
Netizens make their own social terror rating table
Social anxiety
Social anxiety is an emotional experience that feels uncomfortable, unnatural, nervous, and even fearful when interacting with people.
Any activity that requires communication with people, such as making phone calls, shopping, asking for directions, etc., is a big challenge for them.
social phobia
Social phobia is a kind of phobia neurosis, the patients are mostly young people, some are children, mainly manifested as excessive and unreasonable fear of communicating with people, sometimes knowing that this fear response is excessive or unreasonable, but still difficult to feel fear uncontrollably.
Such people often try to avoid socializing in various ways, or force themselves to endure socializing with fear, thus affecting their normal life.
What we usually call our "social fear" is not serious enough to be social phobia, but only in some specific social situations and situations will make us feel uncomfortable and avoidant, which is more in line with the judgment of "social anxiety".
How to identify yourself from social phobia
Mild social anxiety helps us release stress, regulate our mental state, and better social interaction, but if we develop social phobia, it can seriously affect normal life and work.
According to the Mental and Behavioural Disorders Classification, tenth edition of the International Classification of Diseases, the diagnosis of social phobia requires the following criteria:
Fear of being watched in small groups, usually avoiding social situations;
Symptoms of blushing, shaking, nausea, urgency, and frequent urination in fearful scenes;
Symptoms must be primary manifestations of anxiety and not secondary to other symptoms such as delusions or obsessive-compulsive symptoms;
Anxiety must be limited to or occur primarily in specific social situations;
Try to escape the horror of the situation.
Social phobia is often accompanied by low self-evaluation and fear of being criticized and denied. Severe symptoms can progress to panic attacks, impaired social functioning, and can even cause complete social isolation.
Beyond a certain anxiety limit, you need to do it
If you don't love social networking, the impact on yourself is not great, but you still enjoy it, then it is not a problem. But when anxiety exceeds certain boundaries and has a negative impact, it is necessary to adjust in time and find ways to overcome:
Accept yourself
Anxiety and fear are normal human emotions, and in unfamiliar and important occasions, nervousness is taken for granted, and there is no need to exaggerate one's fears.
There is no need to confront emotions, to suppress them, or to demand that you must behave appropriately, generously, and neatly.
Accept yourself who is still toddler, let nature interact, and the symptoms may disappear unconsciously.
Build self-confidence
Give yourself more positive hints, such as "I can" and "I'm improving";
Try to interact with people with anxiety, accumulate successful experience, and increase self-confidence;
Appropriately reduce the requirements, do not have to compare with the people left and right, and be the real self;
Improve self-cultivation, see everyone's goodwill, don't think of others too complicated and dark, and don't be so afraid of others.
Improve resilience
Can simulate the occurrence of social anxiety scenarios, encourage themselves to face bravely, and adapt to the environment in the imagination;
You can also take the initiative or even force yourself to contact people, expose yourself to the social environment, and "desensitize" purposefully and step by step.
Seek the company and support of your family
Patients with really serious social phobia are difficult to get out of the predicament on their own, and they need the company and support of their families.
The family tries to hit his self-confidence as little as possible, and has more affirmation and encouragement to accompany him. If the patient is also accompanied by depressive tendencies, it is important to seek the help of a psychopsychiatric professional. ▲
Editor of this issue: Wang Weixin This article is written by Zhang Jian, a reporter of Life Times
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