15 million people

[prince182]

Ok so i just found out i have social anxiety about 2 weeks ago and i read that it affects about 15 million americans... This is hard to believe because even on this site there's about 11,000 members and they are people from all over the world... i never heard anything about this disorder my whole life and it kind of makes me angry that its like not even recognized as something serious... you never hear anything about people who suffer from this disorder or any kind of treatment available.. but still it affects so many people.

just my opinion but this disorder has to be the worst kind of bullshit ever. we are the same as everybody else, but we are deprieved of so many things like friends and happiness all beacuse of some stupid disorder.. there are so many things we all want to do in life and this shouldn't hold us back, i'am so sick of it.

 

[Lexmark]

Yeah nice post
Yeah i guess you never hear anything about it coz of wat it actually is.
Noone drives around with a I have sociol phobia sticker on there car.
I hope one day someone makes a movie about it.

 

[PhantomPod]

I also believe that social phobia goes terribly unrecognized. Other people are so quick to say "oh, don't worry about what others think of you," "don't be so nervous about going to this social event. what's the big deal?" etc etc. I have heard countless comments like that that just sort of brush off our fears.

I don't think the majority of non-sufferers realize how truly crippling social phobia can be. And how hard it is for us to do simple things like walking into a store and asking for help, or making a phone call.

 

[prince182]

I guarantee that if doctors actually checked to see if their patients might have social anxiety during just an average check-up this problem wouldn't be so common... even in schools counselors should know what SA is and check for it. I wish i would've know about this 4 years ago and maybe i wouldn't be so miserable right now. it feels like nobody cares to be honest and that probably is the reason why SA is so under diagnosed

 

[PhantomPod]

http://www.helpguide.org/mental/social_anxiety_support_symptom_causes_treatment.htm

I was just reading that website and came across this paragraph after I read this thread:

"Children with social anxiety are often lonely, have fewer friends than other children their age, and report symptoms of depression. The center also warns that children who develop social anxiety before the age of twelve are not likely to outgrow the disorder. Left untreated, many children with social anxiety disorder grow up to be socially anxious adults and continue to have problems in interpersonal situations."

I agree that if parents, counselors, teachers, etc caught on to children who appeared to be exceptionally shy, that they could help them from a younger age on how to communicate effectively with others and maybe some cognitive behavioral therapy could even be done with the children. Unfortunately parents and teachers seem to be so quick to say that the kid will just grow out of it.

 

[dpr]

Hey there. Well there is most definitely treatment available from therapists, it is called CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) and it has helped me quite a bit.

You have to work at it though.

And I think a big reason we don't hear a lot about it is that people tend to try to hide it from others. I hide my SP from my friends, coworkers, family. Pretty much everyone but my girlfriend and therapist.

 

[strawberrybrunette]

Perhaps the people who conducted that survey are mistaking average shyness for social anxiety? They're just labelling it the same. Ignorance!

It can't be the same social anxiety, can it? I'm pretty sure there aren't 15 million house-bound americans out there avoiding all social contact because of their anxiety. One the other hand, i know plenty of people who are just a bit shy - my mum and grandfather, just to name a few.

That stat must be wrong. A few years ago, i had the fortune to work with a educational psychologist/CBT-type of therapist. She worked with loads of kids in the area whose illnesses stopped them from attending school - all sorts of problems, from cancer to ME. She was a wonderful woman, very inspiring - her own daughter suffered from a rare spinal condition, which is why she got into therapy. The therapy unfortunately didn't work for me - i sort of "got better" for a while, then regressed - but i was lucky to meet her because she was such an inspiring person.

Anyway, she told me that at my school, a school of nearly two thousand pupils, only there were only two students who suffered from social anxiety which impeded our everyday life (ie. stopped us from attending school) - me, and another girl a bit younger than me. Going on that, it would make it about one in every thousand people. Does that sound more resonable?

 

[coriander1992]

It can't be the same social anxiety, can it? I'm pretty sure there aren't 15 million house-bound americans out there avoiding all social contact because of their anxiety. One the other hand, i know plenty of people who are just a bit shy - my mum and grandfather, just to name a few.

There are different levels of SA, though. It isn't as extreme for some people as it is for others.
Not everybody who has it will be house-bound all of the time.

But I agree with you that perhaps people with shyness were mistaken for SA sufferers.

 

[Helyna]

There is one simple reason why SP is ignored. The people who have it don't make a fuss. They can't. Look at the main disorder people pay attention to in school. ADD. Why? Because those kids are difficult to deal with. The kid with SP, however, is the "good" kid who never is loud, never makes a mess, and never disobeys the teacher. She is afraid to.

Lexmark: I'm trying to write a book about it. One of my friends wants to be a movie director, and she has SP and panic attacks. So, if things work out for us, you might get your movie one day!

 

[PhantomPod]

There is one simple reason why SP is ignored. The people who have it don't make a fuss. They can't. Look at the main disorder people pay attention to in school. ADD. Why? Because those kids are difficult to deal with. The kid with SP, however, is the "good" kid who never is loud, never makes a mess, and never disobeys the teacher. She is afraid to.

Lexmark: I'm trying to write a book about it. One of my friends wants to be a movie director, and she has SP and panic attacks. So, if things work out for us, you might get your movie one day!

That is so very true. Teachers are very quick to put children with ADD on drugs like Ritilan, yet I have never heard of an instance when a teacher has been concerned about a child with severe SP and has suggested that perhaps the child should be prescribed some sort of anxiety medication.

I, too, would love to see a movie about SP. Even with the movies I have seen with SP characters, such as Amelie, don't seem to do it justice to how much suffering comes with SP.
I hope to see you book/movie some day!

 

[lunarskye]

There is one simple reason why SP is ignored. The people who have it don't make a fuss. They can't. Look at the main disorder people pay attention to in school. ADD. Why? Because those kids are difficult to deal with. The kid with SP, however, is the "good" kid who never is loud, never makes a mess, and never disobeys the teacher. She is afraid to.

Lexmark: I'm trying to write a book about it. One of my friends wants to be a movie director, and she has SP and panic attacks. So, if things work out for us, you might get your movie one day!

I was that kid, as many of you are/were. When I like 12 I was sent to the school counsler. She noticed I wouldn't give eye contact was very shy and expressed very little emotion other than sadness. She never did much about it though. I had no idea what SP was though.

Again in highschool at around 14 my science teacher noticed I had behavioral problems and difficulty interacting with people and got very depressed, She spoke to my father but nothing came of it. Then at 16 I was sent to the school therapist a lot and i told her I was depressed and I broke down and like cried for ever [most embarrasing thing ever] they were going to send me to a psyche hospital but insurance wouldn't cover it.

This went on till junior year at another new school when my b. law teacher noticed the same things and sent me to the school counsler she talked to my mother about medication for depression not SP. again nothing came of it. I went through the whole yr with not a sing friend. I dropped out senior yr.

It wasn't until I watched a show called BBCAmerica reveals that I found out about SP. The show was about people that hated the way they looked. I saw a book in the background that said SP looked it up and saw I fit the symptoms.

 

[lunarskye]

There is one simple reason why SP is ignored. The people who have it don't make a fuss. They can't. Look at the main disorder people pay attention to in school. ADD. Why? Because those kids are difficult to deal with. The kid with SP, however, is the "good" kid who never is loud, never makes a mess, and never disobeys the teacher. She is afraid to.

Lexmark: I'm trying to write a book about it. One of my friends wants to be a movie director, and she has SP and panic attacks. So, if things work out for us, you might get your movie one day!

I was that kid, as many of you are/were. When I like 12 I was sent to the school counsler. She noticed I wouldn't give eye contact was very shy and expressed very little emotion other than sadness. She never did much about it though. I had no idea what SP was though.

Again in highschool at around 14 my science teacher noticed I had behavioral problems and difficulty interacting with people and got very depressed, She spoke to my father but nothing came of it. Then at 16 I was sent to the school therapist a lot and i told her I was depressed and I broke down and like cried for ever [most embarrasing thing ever] they were going to send me to a psyche hospital but insurance wouldn't cover it.

This went on till junior year at another new school when my b. law teacher noticed the same things and sent me to the school counsler she talked to my mother about medication for depression not SP. again nothing came of it. I went through the whole yr with not a sing friend. I dropped out senior yr.

It wasn't until I watched a show called BBCAmerica reveals that I found out about SP. The show was about people that hated the way they looked. I saw a book in the background that said SP looked it up and saw I fit the symptoms.