How to Treat Social Phobia

The 3rd largest mental disorder in the United States is social phobia, most people dont understand the severity of this disorder, they think that is just shyness, but it is much more than that, it takes over your whole life and you cant go to social meetings or talk to most people that you dont feel comfortable with.

Social phobia is the fear of being judged and scrutinize by others, this can become very severe to the point where the person wants to be alone most of the time and avoids going to work, meeting new people, going to public restaurants and talking to strangers.

There are different emotional and physical symptoms that they experience when they are in a social situation. When a new event is approaching or they know that next week they have to meet new people or get a new job position, they start to get anxious, fear takes over them and some physical symptoms appear.

Some of the typical physical symptoms of social phobia are palpitations, mind blank, fast heart beat, high blood pressure, sweating and others. In some cases it becomes so stressing that the person gets a panic attack.

There are different treatments for social phobia that are proven to be very effective in reducing or controlling the symptoms, however there is one kind of treatment that is the most effective and safest of all.

Social Phobia Treatments Advantage

Lets take a look at some of the available treatments their pros and cons:

Medications are one of the most widely used methods to treat social phobia or social anxiety and it helps to reduce many of the symptoms in the short terms especially when your problem is severe and you need some quick solution.

The downside of drug medications is that they do cause side effects and can become an addiction in some cases. This is why your psychiatrist or doctor has to monitor your progress closely to see if there are not major problems.

Another downside of medications is that they are just a short term solution, they are not going to cure your social phobia disorder, they are just going to treat it and reduce some of the symptoms.

For example they can control anxiety and depression, relax you, make you feel calm and even more sociable, but that is just temporary you will need to keep taking medications and most of the times medications have different effects to each person, so you will need to try different ones until you find the one that works for you.

The best drugs for treating severe social phobia

There are different kinds of drug medications that can help you to treat different symptoms.

Medications are divided in different types like:

• SSRIs selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
• SNRIs serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors
• MAOIs Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitor
• Beta Blockers to treat performance anxiety
• Benzodiazepine

That is how medications for social phobia are classified, your physician will prescribe you depending on your symptoms. For example beta blockers are great to reduce the symptoms of anxiety in people that have to do performance or public speaking, but are not effective for severe social phobia.

SSRIs are some of the most popular and most prescribed by doctors. Usually they are anti anxiety and anti depressant drug medications that are effective.

Antidepressant approved to treat social phobia

However not all kinds of anti depressant are approved by the FDA. Paxil, Zoloft and Effexor are medications that have been approved by the FDA. Those medications also help you to go through CBT Cognitive Behavioral Therapy which we will talk about.

We have talked about the different medications their advantages and disadvantages, now i want to let you know the most effective way to treat social phobia.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Behavioral Therapy is the most effective way to treat social phobia because it goes to the root cause, it takes a little time and you have to follow the treatment, but it will actually change your negative thought and irrational beliefs for positive beliefs and good thoughts about people.

It will help you be less self conscious, accept your self as you are and learn to enjoy being around others people. It uses also exposure therapy to help you gradually be in social situations where over time you will be feeling more comfortable.

Self Help Tips for social phobia Treatment

Another helpful way to treat social anxiety is to learn social communication skills, like how to talk to people, how to be physically confident, how to persuade people, how to be liked by others, etc.

Learning social skills will help you be more confident the next time you meet someone else or you have to express your opinion in public.

Learn relaxation techniques to help you cope with your anxiety. You will also learn breathing exercises to help you control your physical symptoms.

Read some motivational books that can help you be more confident.

Meet people that have your same interest and hobbies, it will be much easier to talk with someone that has your same interest.

Online treatment for social phobia is possible if your psychotherapist have a website where he can comunicate via chat. However you can find help in social anxiety forums of people that have your same problem and have achieved good results. There are also some courses of how to cope and overcome social anxiety that might help you.

Those are some of the ways to treat social phobia that are very effective, apply some of them and also look for professional help, a psychotherapist can help you a lot and guide you until you recover. Dont let more time pass, you dont want to miss anymore opportunities.