Stress management

By: Abhishek Agarwal
Put another way, social anxiety is the fear and anxiety of being judged and evaluated negatively by other people, leading to feelings of inadequacy, embarrassment, humiliation, and depression. If a person usually becomes anxious in social situations, but seems fine when they are alone, then "social anxiety" may be the problem.

Social anxiety disorder (social phobia) is a much more common problem than past estimates have led us to believe. Millions of people all over the world suffer from this devastating and traumatic problem every day of their lives, either from a specific social phobia or from a more generalized social phobia. In the United States, epidemiological studies have recently pegged social anxiety disorder as the third largest psychological disorder in the country.

A specific social phobia would be the fear of speaking in front of groups, whereas generalized social anxiety indicates that the person is anxious, nervous, and uncomfortable in almost all (or the majority of) social situations.

People with social anxiety disorder usually experience significant emotional distress in the following situations:

Common anxiety provoking social situations include:

a) talking with people in authority

b) dating and developing close relationships

c) making a phone call or answering the phone

d) interviewing

e) attending and participating in class

f) speaking with strangers

g) meeting new people

h) eating, drinking, or writing in public

i) using public bathrooms

j) driving

k) shopping

Physical symptoms that may occur during, or in anticipation of, the situation include:

a) rapid heartbeat

b) sweating

c) muscle tension

d) upset stomach

e) trembling

f) shaky voice

g) dry mouth

h) blushing

i) queasiness

j) ticks

k) hyper ventilation

l) difficulty making eye contact.

People with social anxiety disorder may never know that their anxiety is irrational and does not make "head" sense. Nevertheless, "knowing" something is never the same as "believing" and "feeling" something. Thus, in people with social anxiety, thoughts and feelings of anxiety persist and show no signs of going away. It's in such cases that On-line forums become handy.

The internet offers many sites that focus on the topic of social anxiety and have forums on these issues. This in an excellent opportunity, especially for individuals with this condition to get together and articulate their fears and feelings. These forums are purposely created to offer people with social phobia a chance of meeting similar individuals without feeling self-restricted and conscious. These on-line social forums are ideal for most people, because it gives them sufficient time to type or speak whatever they have in mind.

Relaxation is a very important thing to the patients of social anxiety and these on-line forums provides then with that much needed environment, where they need to feel comfortable. Different resources that may be of interest to sufferers of social anxiety disorders are all offered to them. It also makes communication to individuals with similar conditions easy. The social anxiety forums also offer a good environment to meet new people from various parts of the world and make friends, other than just learning about their experience with social anxiety. You can also learn new tricks of managing the condition and also share tips of your own.

The number of social anxiety on-line forums is growing fast, so you are sure to find many. They may be all similar but offering different content. They provide chat capability where instant communication is possible in addition to forum boxes, where you can leave your comment, and it can be answered immediately or when someone logs into the site. It therefore pays to check on-line for these social anxiety forums if you are a sufferer of anxiety. AND Who knows; you might just find the right help.