What is the occurence frequency of social phobia in %

Hi,

What is, in fact, the frequency of social phobia in the overall population? I've searched in the net but there are very divergent data... and they are rather too high values...

Does it differ at different nations? I've read that it somehow depends from the climate - north European countries have more such cases than the south countries, for example. Maybe there is something in it - I feel less anxious on sunny, warm summer days...

Cheers.

There are too many factors that go into developing SP for there to be a universal probability. Not only that, but it affects different people to different degrees and in different ways, so it can't be meaningfully compared even to itself. In general, however, the percentage affected in most first-world countries is quite high (typically above 10% if memory serves).
Some of the most heavily impacted nations include Finland, Japan, Korea, Australia, and I don't know about Poland, but it would stand to reason.

Aha, I see.

Well, 10% is quite high percentage... it means that in my class should be else 2 persons with SA, if it refers also to Poland (the term of social phobia isn't here so often mentioned as in english-languaged countries, judging by the nr of websites about it and quality of them...); there are some quieter persons - maybe that's it?...

Australia is really among the most heavily impacted nations? I'm surprised. I've thought that there are very little people with anxiety disorders in such sunny and warm climate... Interesting.

Marvolo said:

Australia is really among the most heavily impacted nations? I'm surprised. I've thought that there are very little people with anxiety disorders in such sunny and warm climate... Interesting.

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That's why I said there are many other factors to consider. Some people are more affected by sunlight and warm climates than others. There are also an abundance of cultural factors to take into consideration. In Japan, for example, people are raised in a very stressful environment which places a lot of pressure on them to perform and with minimal intervention from personalized forces (such as parents), which can have drastic effects on children if they ever disappoint. In Australia, most of the urban population is centered around a very few large cities, but most of the population of Australia is in rural societies, which tend to stagnate. In those conditions, it's easy to feel like your life is not moving forward, especially if you're not particularly successful in your given small environment. It's a practical case of the fish in a pond example, where if the pond is percieved to be quite small, and the fish does not feel very important in it, then the effect is double-impacting. The mind is quite complex, so there is no way to predict what kind of situations and conditions will make a person socially anxious; there are only the risk factors, and they are very generalized and broad.

I mentioned Poland because the Polish culture can be quite cynical and it embraces depression, which is a gateway to anxiety. At least, that's my take on it (and Chopin doesn't help me see much else in Polish culture).

mienaino said:

(...) I mentioned Poland because the Polish culture can be quite cynical and it embraces depression, which is a gateway to anxiety. At least, that's my take on it (and Chopin doesn't help me see much else in Polish culture).

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Well, I think that there are many negative and uncommited stereotypes about many nations, Polish nation too. The stereotypes are generally not good thing. Have you ever been to Poland or met Polish people, that you've such a determined opinion? Foreign people in the world think many negative things about the Central European nations and countries but their knowledge about them is actually embarassingly poor... :?

OK, some of us (I try not to be so) sometimes are a bit cynical or unkind, but it's not so often as you'd suggest. Aren't such people in your country? It's normal. But Polish people can be also very generous and - which is traditional - hospitable.

Greetings

Marvolo said:

Well, I think that there are many negative and uncommited stereotypes about many nations, Polish nation too. The stereotypes are generally not good thing. Have you ever been to Poland or met Polish people, that you've such a determined opinion? Foreign people in the world think many negative things about the Central European nations and countries but their knowledge about them is actually embarassingly poor... :?

OK, some of us (I try not to be so) sometimes are a bit cynical or unkind, but it's not so often as you'd suggest. Aren't such people in your country? It's normal. But Polish people can be also very generous and - which is traditional - hospitable.

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Absolutely. I don't doubt that generousity and hospitality are also integral parts of Polish culture, but when you take into account such things as idioms and popular texts and whatnot, the brunt of Poland's track record is rather depressing. I didn't mean cynical in the sense of being cold and unwelcoming. Au contraire, I was raised in a nation which was partially founded on Polish culture and traditions, and I've known many generous and welcoming Polish people, but most of them were quite pessimistic, to say the least. Hence, embracing depression.

I see what you mean.
Hm, maybe there's something in what you've written... we sometimes actually are pessimistic, generally... But maybe it's caused by our such complicated and hard national history; maybe the climate might be a bit warmer and sunnier (in autumn and winter)... :wink:
Well, it's nice you've such relations with Polish people.
Cheers!