around 5.3 million sufferers.
Symptoms of Social Anxiety
Do you suffer any of the following symptoms of social anxiety in one or other areas of your life?
Self-Assessment
– How often do you get anxious and worried in social situations?
– Not at all/a little/some of the time/a lot of the time/all of the time
– Do you avoid the situation that you are anxious about?
– Not at all/a little/some of the time/a lot of the time/all of the time
– Are you afraid of public speaking, giving presentations, and groups of people?
– Not at all/some of the time/a lot of the time/all of the time
– On a scale of one to 10 how strongly do you feel you suffer social anxiety in one or more areas of your life?
(0–1 = none to very slight, 2–3 = slightly, 4–6 = moderately, 7–8 = marked social anxiety, 9–10 = chronic anxiety)
CASE STUDY for Social Anxiety
Angus, a 37-year-old marketing executive, works for a well-known mobile network company. Seen as the golden boy of the company, he had amazing sales and marketing skills that brought in a large amount of money. For this he was rewarded with a promotion to the board of directors. One of the responsibilities his new role entailed was holding group meetings and giving presentations to his colleagues. However, Angus had always had an anxiety about his height – he was only 5ft 5 inches – and this seemed to be becoming worse every time he did a presentation. He felt powerless and inadequate, with the result that he mumbled, tripped over his words and behaved in a defensive manner.
In response, I used Thought Field Therapy (see chapter five), a powerful NLP exercise called The Biology of Excellence (see here) and self-hypnosis on building confidence in group meetings. And the feedback? According to Angus, the techniques worked a treat.
Panic Disorder
Some people experience anxiety through the feeling of panic. Panic disorders affect 0.7 per cent of the British population and 2.4 million Americans, and are twice as common in women than men.
The attacks of anxiety that are usually experienced with panic disorder can be very scary and can last from 5 minutes to 30. An individual can feel fine one minute and the next find themselves in the grip of extreme fear and anxiety for no apparent reason. An attack is usually preceded by a feeling of something being not quite right. This then quickly escalates into sheer panic, absolute terror and a feeling of being out of control. The catastrophic thoughts that follow the initial sense of foreboding cause a powerful physiological response, which then reinforces the thoughts. It is this feedback loop between thought and sensation that exacerbates the condition, causing anxiety to spiral out of control. At the height of an acute panic attack the sufferer feels completely powerless and really believes that this time the worst is going to happen – i.e. that they are about to die or go crazy. (Thankfully, this never happens.) Some people may only experience one or two panic attacks in a lifetime but others are plagued with panic attacks on a weekly or monthly basis.
Panic attacks can, of course, be mild and therefore will not have a huge impact on a person’s life. However, when they are acute and debilitating they can restrict the sufferer’s life in many areas. This is due not only to the fear of causing an attack but because of the uncertainty as to when and where the next one is going to occur. Hence sufferers avoid certain situations, places and people that could bring on an attack or where they would feel vulnerable or embarrassed should one happen.
Unfortunately, fear of an attack can often bring on the condition itself. Fear makes us more alert and hypersensitive and we can then begin to look out for any bodily sensations that indicate a panic attack is going to occur or any situations that could bring one on – for example, being in a lift or a crowded room or in an aeroplane, anything that is a reminder of the original attack. Panic attacks can also occur during sleep. The sufferer will waken up gripped with fear, and panic that they are going to have a heart attack.
Like most other anxiety disorders, if you suffer from panic disorder you are also likely to suffer from anxiety in other areas. Depression is closely linked to panic disorder, as is agoraphobia, claustrophobia and social phobia.
What Causes Panic Attacks?
The causes of panic attacks are varied. Personality type can be a contributory factor, as people who are naturally prone to anxiety are more likely to have a panic attack. Sometimes they are born from childhood events, such as separation from parents or one parent. A study showed that rat pups separated from their mothers had greater levels of anxiety than those whose mothers were not removed.
Associating something with other uncomfortable and stressful experiences from the past – for example mental, emotional or physical abuse – is also a common trigger.
Panic attacks do not always have their roots in childhood. Panic attacks can suddenly come on for no apparent reason in adulthood. Life changes and worries about impending life changes are often at the bottom of this, although it has to be said that the possible psychological causes of panic are endless. There are also possible physical causes for panic attack. These include unstable blood sugar levels, hyperventilation and food allergies.
It is important to treat panic attacks, otherwise they could become worse or develop into
