SOCIAL
PHOBIA (SCOPOPHOBIA)- a fear of embarassing, or humiliating 'on the spot'
type situations (in public) Aka: social anxiety, social anxiety disorder,
fear of being judged
SOCIAL PHOBIA is probably the most common phobia there is; a pervasive fear of any situation where the sufferer is likely to feel 'on the spot', embarassed, humiliated or judged - for example; dinner parties, public speaking, interviews, appearing in court, singing, stuttering etc Associated symptoms: sensitivity to criticism, neagtive self image, fear of rejection, difficulty in being assertive and feelings of inferiority . On a more general level, the social phobic worries continuously about how others 'see' them, and what others may think about them - it is not surprising then that the sufferer usually spends a lot of time creating the image they want others to see. Usually the social phobic is quite adept at concealing their anxiety from others, although there is quite often a difficulty in maintaining eye contact.
In a clinical setting (in the U.S.A.) somewhere between 3 and 13% of people had social phobia. Social phobia generally starts in the mid -teens (although it often follows on from just being 'shy') or can be triggered off by a particularly embarassing event. As with all phobias, stress (or the lack of it) will have a significant effect on the 'strength' of the anxiety created. In the D.S.M.4 (the Mental Health 'Bible') the main criteria for social phobia is listed as; A marked and persistent fear of one or more social or performance situations in which the person is exposed to unfamiliar people or to possible scrutiny by others. The individual fears that he/she will act in a way that will be humiliating or embarassing.
Some symptoms that may appear alongside (or be caused
by) social phobia or social anxiety are.....
A fear of public speaking
A fear of talking on the telephone
A fear of writing in front of someone (even signing a cheque!)
Blushing, or a fear of blushing
Stuttering or stammering
A lack of confidence
Working too hard (to please others)
Setting unachieveably high standards (and feeling bad when they are not
met)
A preoccupation with how you look: perfecting an image you want others
to see (NOT vanity - this is about trying to 'blend in')
Certain twiches or 'tics'
Shy bladder (men) not being able to pee, when on the spot
Certain sexual inhibitions - due to 'performance anxiety'
Repeated failure of driving test - due to 'performance anxiety'
A persistant fear of failure, or 'not making the grade'
Basically, any situation in life where you might
feel embarassed, on the spot, judged, silly, out of control etc etc