feels damp. He thinks he might be sick. He is sick — with worry.
Brian has worked steadily at the same company since graduating from college six years ago. His work is highly technical. Most of the senior executives depend on his technology know-how. He has stashed away a nice amount of money for emergencies. Nevertheless, his anxiety has increased over the last year to the point that he notices that he’s making mistakes. He can’t think; he feels horrible and is in a constant state of distress.
The economy can make anyone anxious at times. But Brian’s worries appear to be out of proportion to his real situation. It seems unlikely that he’s in danger of losing his job. However, his extreme anxiety may, in fact, cause him to get in trouble at work. People with overwhelming anxiety often make careless mistakes because of problems with attention and concentration.
Avoiding people
People who are socially phobic fear exposure to public scrutiny. These people dread performing, speaking, going to parties, meeting new people, entering groups, using the telephone, writing a check in front of others, eating in public, and/or interacting with those in authority. They see these situations as painful because they expect to receive humiliating or shameful judgments from others.
Social phobics believe they’re somehow defective and inadequate; they assume they’ll bungle their lines, spill their drinks, shake hands with clammy palms, or commit any number of social faux pas and thus embarrass themselves. Ironically, because they are so anxious, they actually do what they fear. Shaky, sweaty hands spill drinks. Lack of eye contact turns people away. They worry about what others are thinking about them — so much that they don’t listen well enough to keep a conversation going.
You fear situations with unfamiliar people or ones where you may be observed or evaluated in some way.
When forced into an uncomfortable social situation, your anxiety increases powerfully. For example, if you fear public speaking, your voice shakes, and your knees tremble the moment that you start your speech.
You realize that your fear is greater than the situation really warrants. For example, if you fear meeting new people, logically you know nothing horrible will happen, but tidal waves of adrenaline and fearful anticipation course through your veins.
You avoid fearful situations as much as you can or endure them only with great distress. Because of your fears, you may miss a variety of events you’d otherwise like to go to (for example, family gatherings, work opportunities, or parties).
Check out the following prime example of a social anxiety and see whether any of it seems familiar.
Maurice, a 35-year-old bachelor, wants a serious relationship. Women consider him attractive, and he has a well-paying job. Maurice’s friends invite him to parties and other social events in an effort to set him up with women. Unfortunately, he detests the idea of going. Maurice conjures up a number of good excuses for backing out. However, his desire to meet potential dates eventually wins. Whenever he imagines scenes of meeting women, he feels intense, anxious anticipation.
When Maurice arrives at the party, he heads to the bar to quell his mounting anxiety. His hands shake as he picks up his first drink. Quickly downing the drink, he orders another in hopes of numbing his emotions. After an hour of nonstop drinking, he feels much braver. He interrupts a cluster of attractive women and spews out a string of jokes that he has memorized for the occasion. Then he approaches various women throughout the night, sometimes making flirtatious, suggestive comments. His silly, drunken behavior doesn’t get him any dates. The following day, he’s embarrassed and ashamed.
THE DIAGNOSTIC AND STATISTICAL MANUAL-5 (DSM-5)
Every so many years, groups of mental health professionals provide research and clinical experience in order to develop a list of emotional disorders. They publish their findings in a manual referred to as the DSM. Currently, the field is using the fifth edition. The diagnoses allow professionals to communicate with a common language. However, the formal role of diagnoses has its detractors. Many professionals believe it’s more useful to focus on symptoms as opposed to specific disorders. For your information, the DSM-5 currently lists the following major categories of anxiety disorders:
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
Social phobia
Panic disorder
Agoraphobia
Specific phobias
Separation anxiety disorder
Selective mutism
Anxiety disorder due to another medical condition
The previous few editions of DSM categorized obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as anxiety disorders. No longer. Today, OCD has its own section, Obsessive Compulsive Related Disorders, and PTSD is categorized as a Trauma-and Stressor-Related Disorder. The controversies surrounding these changes are complex. And in most people with emotional problems, there are almost always overlapping symptoms. In other words, someone with anxiety is likely to have at least a few symptoms in one diagnostic category and a few others in a different category.
Maurice has social anxiety. Drug and alcohol abuse often accompany social phobia because people with social phobia feel desperate to quell their anxious feelings. And drugs and alcohol offer a quick fix. Unfortunately, that fix often causes additional embarrassment and may lead to an addiction.
Beyond everyday anxiety
Of course, everyone feels a little panicked from time to time. People often say they feel panicked about an upcoming deadline, an impending presentation, or planning for a party. You’re likely to hear the term used to describe concerns about rather mundane events such as these.
But
