Blogpost 6: Culture of Social Anxiety

You may not think of social anxiety as a phobia in the same way that people are afraid of heights or snakes, but this is how it is classified. If your only triggered is public speaking, you would be diagnosed with specific social anxiety disorder. If, on the other hand, you fear most different kinds of social situations, the term generalized SAD would be used. You may be wondering what the difference is between shyness and social anxiety. The difference is that while shy people are uneasy in social situations, they do not experience extreme dread in anticipation of these events, and don't tend to avoid situations that make them uneasy. People with the social anxiety also are not necessarily shy. In some social situations, they may be completely at ease.

As I read the article of Asnaani A. Hoffman about the Cultural Differences in Social Anxiety. This research tells us that there can be differences in social anxiety disorder based on culture. If different cultures have different social rules and expectations this makes sense; what is considered appropriate behavior in one culture might be viewed differently in another.It shows that, accordingly, there are variations in the prevalence of social anxiety in different cultures.There is no research evidence to support a difference in treatment response for SAD among different cultures. However, research has shown that Asians in North America tend to delay treatment more than those of other cultures. In some Asian cultures such as Japan or Korea, people with SAD may fear offending others rather than being embarrassed.

In my overall understanding, social fears are dependent on the cultural context in which you live. If you are being evaluated for social anxiety disorder, it is important that the mental health professional make a diagnosis that takes into context your culture and social norms. What might be considered socially appropriate behavior in Japan will not in the United States. Social anxiety should always be evaluated taking one's culture into consideration.

The only thing that could spoil a day was people.  People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself.  ~Ernest Hemingway

http://socialanxietydisorder.about.com/od/overviewofsad/a/Cultural-Differences-In-Social-Anxiety-Disorder.htm

Blogpost 5: Living with Social Anxiety Disorder

If you are an employee suffering with social anxiety disorder, you should know that it can make you to adjust to work your life's difficulties. Living with social anxiety disorder can take a toll on your personal and professional life. During and after treatment, it is important to acknowledge the disorder and to use strategies to minimize the negative impact on your life. In this installment of the "day in the life" series, I provide a description of the average "day in the life" of an employee with social anxiety. Perhaps you will see yourself or someone you know in this description.

In this article of Arlin Cuncic of Living with Social Anxiety Disorder that we can live with this and improve ourselves. Managing social anxiety disorder at work can be difficult. If you have been diagnosed with the anxiety disorder, you are probably concerned about the day-to-day impact of the disorder on your career. The good news is that receiving a diagnosis and entering treatment is the first step toward managing your anxiety symptoms. However, there are many specific problems that people with social anxiety will face in the workplace, including the inability to network effectively, fear of attending business social events, problems developing relationships with coworkers, lack of self-confidence, and difficulty speaking up in meetings.

According to the article of Dr. Thomas A. Richards that if a person is motivated to the end of years of crippling anxiety, then comprehensive cognitive behavioral treatment provides methods, techniques and strategies that all combine to lessen anxiety and make the world much more enjoyable.

In my conclusion, only you can decide how best to live with social anxiety. If you have been in treatment, you may simply need to be vigilant about using coping strategies to avoid a relapse of symptoms. Most people will never live completely without social anxiety, but rather achieve a balance in which your anxiety does not negatively affect your daily functioning or place limits on what you can achieve.

Panic is a sudden desertion of us, and a going over to the enemy of our imagination.  ~Christian Nevell Bovee

http://socialanxietydisorder.about.com/od/copingwithsad/a/livingwithSAD.htm

Blogpost 4: Mythology of Social Anxiety

If you believe that you may be experiencing social anxiety, this article will help you to decode some of the myths about this type of fear and make a decision about getting help for your problem. Although they know that the anxiety and fear that they feel is unwarranted, controlling or preventing the anxiety seems impossible. People who experience social anxiety feel as though they are being judged and evaluated when they are in social and performance situations.

According to the article I read that tells about The Myths of Social Anxiety by Leary M and Kenneth R . It says that social anxiety isn't common to all individuals they experienced it at some point of their every day lives. Also social anxiety can only refer to public speaking fear and performance situations. It tells that shyness and social anxiety are just the same thing or common. You can also feel nervousness in a manner of social interactions. It's the problem that you just have to learn to live.

If you always experience social anxiety when you are around other people, it can become very difficult to ever relax and be yourself around others. When it feels like everyone is evaluative, critical and judgmental, it sometimes seems easier just to avoid social situations altogether. Often people who experience severe social anxiety believe that they are the only people in the world with the problem, and they do not tell anyone.

To conclude everything, those myths are very helpful to me knowing that every individual are vulnerable to shyness and social anxiety. But at some cases some overcome and some get caught with its destructive characteristics. This things are what we need to know in order to interact with people with social anxiety disorder. Knowing now about this disorder may help us make a way to also help them in their struggles in life and get rid of their disorder that keep him or her from engaging other people like us. Many people today tries to strengthen themselves as they worry or fear about something that is actually one step on overcoming anxiety and having confidence is also good to get rid of shyness. But sometimes you never feel at ease about anything, cannot calm down, have difficulty concentrating and making decisions, and worry about misfortunes that you know are sure to come. So as the myths told us that there are many ways of cure for these types of disorders.

Nerves and butterflies are fine - they're a physical sign that you're mentally ready and eager.  You have to get the butterflies to fly in formation, that's the trick.  ~Steve Bull

http://socialanxietydisorder.about.com/od/overviewofsad/a/socialanxiety.htm

Blogpost 3: History of Social Anxiety

Feeling anxious and blue about the future all at the same time? It's not surprising, given the established history between shyness and anxiety. When it comes to social anxiety in particular, feelings of anxiety and worry about being around others can eventually translate into feeling down in general. If you are just starting to learn about Social Anxiety this is a great place to start.

Upon reading this article of Weiner IB about the Brief History of Social Anxiety Disorder. I learned a very important thing that is even in ancient times shyness and social anxiety can be developed. As today many doctors made and tried to create a cure for these kind of illness. These illness may not be physical but it is emotional and mental sickness. The time tells us today that every thing can be cured even if it's already in our personality and characteristics.

It is important for us to study the history of social anxiety for us to know how to make solutions for its disorder and lead us to improve ourselves in present to future. Sometimes we don't look back and we keep moving forward but it's all too wrong. We need to look back in order for us not to do the same mistakes again and move forward to encounter the new challenges that comes ahead. That's the real essence of living your life to the fullest. The history of social anxiety tells us even in the ancient time our ancestors also feels what we feel to today well of course they're humans like us. At some cases in the early 20th century we are now trying to make solutions to our own problems and up to now we are still finding the easiest and fastest way to get rid of shyness and social anxiety.

If you are physically sick, you can elicit the interest of a battery of physicians; but if you are mentally sick, you are lucky if the janitor comes around.  ~Martin H. Fischer

http://socialanxietydisorder.about.com/od/overviewofsad/a/history.htm

Blogpost 2: Society of Anxiety

Shyness and social anxiety share many characteristics. If you have spent your whole life feeling as though you are just a shy person, how do you know if it is something more serious? Or, if you're a worried parent, you may be wondering if your child is afraid of strangers or not making new friends at school. In either case, how do you know whether it is a serious problem? Does all people are engaged with social anxiety? Well these are some serious questions about us as an individual and our society.

When I was reading the article of Arlin Cuncic about the Shy Politicians and Celebrities with Social Anxiety. I learned that everyone can be a victim by this illness even the great people from the politics and the amazing people from  the celebrities. 

It might be surprising to learn that some politicians are shy. Some of the qualities of a great leader can be born out of shyness the ability to listen and motivate others to action can come from a milder temperament. At the same time, most leaders who are shy at some point learn how to overcome their insecurities in order to fulfill the social obligations of their careers. Here are some famous shy political figures.

Shy Politicians:

1. Abraham Lincoln
2. Bob Dole
3. Eleanor Roosevelt
4. Theodore Roosevelt
5. Thomas Jefferson
6. Ulysses S. Grant

It's also very surprising that celebrities have been struggling social anxiety and have overcome it to be able to start their careers. Celebrities with social anxiety include those who have been diagnosed with social anxiety disorder.

Celebrities with Social Anxiety Disorder:

1. Donny Osmond
2. Barbra Streisand
3. Ricky Williams
4. Zack Greinke
5. Dontrelle Willis
6. Khalil Greene
7. Susie O'Neill
8. Kim Basinger
9. Sir Lawrence Olivier

These are examples of celebrities who posses shyness and social anxiety also they are just like us. We are not different as like them we also posses those traits or characteristics, still we are fond of not giving any attention to those things. Because we think it's a waste of time but it's not. We are somehow living in a society of anxiety. The reason many people don't seek help is because they don't realize that they have a recognized psychiatric condition. The primary symptoms that distinguish shyness from social anxiety are the intensity of the fear, the level of avoidance, and the impairment of functioning that it causes in a person's life.

These people has disorders but they did not give in. They move forward that made them become famous and great.

Look into my eyes!!! Do I have social anxiety? I think yes, sometimes I guess though I'm a bit shy still I always worry about being rejected and judged. But who cares I am what I am and I am me I know my identity so I don't care what people thinks about me.

People who are living in a society of anxiety are the people who always gets rejected, criticized, judged, and bullied. In those circumstances a psychological breakthrough comes to them and gets attached to their personalities. It could get worse if they don't make a solutions to get rid of it and it could also destroy them. Every single one of us have worries on our own and everyone has fears. Still we can fight through but we can't do it alone we need both hope and faith to fight, we need God to help us in the way we couldn't. Then the rest is up to us to end our hardships and struggles in both shyness and social anxiety. For us to finally leave or depart from the society of anxiety to the society of apathy.

All too frequently, anxiety crushes not only your spirit and your potential, but your ability to take care of your mind and body.  ~Jonathan Davidson and Henry Dreher

References:

http://socialanxietydisorder.about.com/od/celebritieswithsad/tp/Shy-Politicians.htm
http://socialanxietydisorder.about.com/od/celebritieswithsad/tp/celebritySAD.htm

Blogpost 1: Social Anxiety vs. Shyness

What is Social Anxiety? How is it different from Shyness? Are we a Society of Anxiety? These were the questions that always keeps me away from the people whom I want to get along with that has something unusual. In my observations there are people who are scared of talking to others and people whom are just shy of talking to strangers. Well that's a very different story when it comes to anxiety, plus having fear in the peoples judgement and rejections. 

As I read the article made by Craig A. Anderson and Robert J. Harvey the Discriminating Between Problems in Living: An Examination of Measures of Depression, Loneliness, Shyness, and Social Anxiety taught me that both social anxiety and shyness are same in some ways. There are confirmation about the standard measures and scales of these problems in an individual that has the same construct. Though it has its own difference between those illness.

In my own understanding through all of this research about Shyness and Social Anxiety are totally in different area, both of them has their own impairment in an individual. Though they're both alike in some areas of people's emotions but when it comes in psychological thinking they are completely different. there are people who's been living in a Society of Anxiety these people at first were like shy types then, as time passes they got some worries, criticism and regrets in interacting with other people. So it became an anxiety to them more like a phobia they are now being scared to their acquaintance, stranger and even their friends. They keep on worrying things about the people that surrounds them, they even questioned the society that they were living into. It builds fear, stress, pain and worries to those poor people who were the victims of this society, "The Society of Anxiety."

He dare not come in company, for here he should be misused, disgraced, overshoot himself in gesture or speeches or be sick; he thinks everyman observes him.  ~Richard Burton

 http://guilfordjournals.com/doi/abs/10.1521/jscp.1988.6.3-4.482