Who are social phobes, how to recognize such people. The article will provide tips for communicating with such individuals. Experts will also recommend ways to get rid of the voiced psychological ailment. Sociophobes are subjects that differ markedly from their environment by the presence of certain fears and phobias. Modern society is increasingly giving rise to people with a similar model of behavior. However, it is necessary to distinguish social anxiety from the same introverts, sociopaths and misanthropes. It is necessary to figure out what lies behind the sounded concept and how to behave with such eccentrics.
The causes of social phobia
People with this social anxiety are afraid of all kinds of social action. In some cases, such subjects are confused with agoraphobes, who are intimidated by a large crowd of people. Such a parallel drawn is fundamentally a wrong comparison, because these are different manifestations of human fear.
Sociophobes fear many things that need to be done in the presence of other people. At the same time, their natural excitement in such cases goes off scale to panic horror.
This issue has not yet been fully studied, but experts suggest the following sources for the appearance of the sounded phenomenon:
- Heredity … The hypothesis of a similar nature of the origin of the problem does not yet have a clear scientific justification. However, some psychologists believe it is possible to transmit social phobia at the genetic level.
- Parents example … It is no secret that children often adopt the model of behavior of adults from their close environment. Consequently, for them, anxiety disorder regarding society will become the norm in the future. The "carbon copy" effect will work, which will bring many problems to the child, who will eventually become a mature person.
- Bad comparison … Some parents consider themselves to be consummate educators who know best about raising their children. In order to induce healthy, in their opinion, competition in the child, they praise other children to the detriment of their own offspring. As a result (even if not out of malice) they make a social phobia out of their child.
- Negative attitude of society … Sometimes, incorrect behavior of teachers can create an anxious personality out of a child. Signs of social anxiety also appear in those children who have become the victim of peer ridicule. As a result, victims of abuse become withdrawn and become afraid of many things that need to be done in public.
- Psychological trauma … Bitter experiences in the past when communicating with society can cause a person the described anxiety. People who have failed to deliver a presentation are unlikely to be eager to repeat the failed experiment. Any stress can trigger the voiced mechanism of anxiety, which literally everyone can suffer from.
Not in all cases experts are able to say with certainty why people become social anxiety. The person himself may not know the reason for what is happening to him in the absence of the listed factors-provocateurs.
Varieties of social phobia
Human fears and concerns are of a different educational nature. People with a similar pattern of behavior may be afraid to do the most ordinary things, which does not indicate their mental deviation.
In most cases, social phobes are wary of the following factors:
- Fear of public speaking … Not every person feels at ease in front of a large audience. However, simply worrying and falling into a stupor from the proposed event are completely different things. A sociophobe is simply not able to connect two words during his speech, because he simply loses the gift of speech.
- Fear of phone calls … At first glance, this fear seems rather strange. However, there is a category of people who are not able to negotiate without seeing the interlocutor. These subjects may even be brilliant speakers in front of a real public, but at the sight of an intercom, they freeze. However, this phobia should not be attributed to young children who refuse to negotiate even with loved ones. Because of their age, they simply do not understand why they need to talk to a pipe. Over time, this goes away without consequences for the psyche.
- Inability to eat in public … A person with such a phobia does not want to visit catering points or eat in the presence of his colleagues and even acquaintances. There can be many reasons for this fear, but usually it is necessary to look for them in childhood. Also, the reason can be personal complexes based on self-doubt, their appearance.
- Denial of supervised work … Not everyone can do the assigned work if someone carefully controls it. Socialophobes, on the other hand, have enough simple views when they are busy with work to unsettle them.
- Inability to visit a public toilet … The point here is not at all disgust, because it is not the cause of the voiced phobia. In some cases, people with such fear and rejection of the natural fact cannot visit the restroom, even when visiting friends. A pathological fear of contracting something can also be added here. Such people, forced to visit a public toilet, often cover everything with paper and walk in almost wearing gloves, not forgetting to rub their hands for a long time and rinse them with disinfectants.
- Rejection of views on the street … Any passer-by who glanced at the social phobia with this problem can throw him out of balance. Therefore, people with a similar model of behavior try to leave their home as rarely as possible, preferring the lot of a recluse.
- Fear of body touch … This phobia is typical for autistic people, but sometimes it also occurs in people who, due to circumstances, were injured, felt severe pain, especially from beating in childhood, who did not receive affection from their parents.
Important! The social phobia is not always afraid of one particular situation. In some cases, he may be susceptible to a whole range of disturbing factors for him. All this is a serious reason for contacting a specialist, without whose help you can no longer do.
Distinctive features of a social phobia
When an individual is confronted with an alarming situation for him, he experiences significant physical and moral discomfort. Outwardly, such unfavorable transformations in the body may look like this:
- Discoloration of the skin … The voiced phenomenon accurately characterizes what a social phobia looks like during times of stress. If it is necessary for him to manifest activity in people, such a person begins to blush from a sharp increase in pressure. The opposite also happens, when the unfortunate person turns pale to blue when the situation is uncomfortable for him.
- Sweating … In addition to a change in the color of the skin, social phobes have a sounded unpleasant phenomenon. In an uncomfortable environment or situation, the internal sebaceous glands begin to work actively, which causes the experiencing person to sweat profusely.
- Trembling hands … They come to a tremor not only among alcoholics during a hangover, but also among social phobes. Such a phenomenon speaks of the extreme overexcitation of a person, which is not always caused by positive and joyful factors.
- Heart palpitations … The main organ of human life always actively reacts to most stressful situations. On rare occasions, the subject remains completely cold-blooded if irritated by what is happening. In social phobia, the heart jumps out of the chest when they have to do something that scares and brings significant discomfort.
- Weakness in the knees … In a state of strong emotional overexcitement from the situation, which causes a phobia, a similar physical phenomenon occurs in a person. With him, it is difficult for the poor fellow to stay on his feet from excitement, which is very noticeable for the people around him.
- Numbness … You can freeze with delight, but the stupor lasts for a very short time. Sociophobes, on the other hand, turn into a pillar of salt if they have to do something that terrifies them.
- Speech problems … Stuttering or fast, confused speech can also characterize the person with the voiced problem. Usually such people are closed in themselves and even at times gloomy, but in a critical situation for them, serious problems arise with diction if they want to throw out long-held emotions.
- Avoiding eye contact … This fear is very characteristic of a social phobia, therefore it is a characteristic sign of a deviation in his behavior. This complex should not be confused with shyness, because it cannot be a significant problem for the affected subject.
You should carefully observe how the social phobia behaves, so that your incorrect behavior does not aggravate his condition. You especially need to be extremely tactful when it comes to a person from your inner circle. The feelings of others must be protected so as not to become an outcast in society over time.
Rules for communicating with a social phobia
This delicate question often concerns those people who are worried about the person dear to them. Colleagues can also find it difficult to find a common language with a sullen personality with whom they have to deal with business issues.
Experts offer the following tips on how to deal with a social phobia:
- Unobtrusiveness … Do not foaming at the mouth to prove to such a person that he cannot have problems on this basis. People with a voiced phobia know everything about themselves, so you should not persuade them. Most often they see negative in most cases, and simply do not perceive a friendly attitude towards themselves.
- Loyalty … Sociophobes have extremely low self-esteem and increased demands on themselves. Some of them become a hermit, while others try to please their surroundings, setting themselves up in advance for the failure of the planned enterprise. You should not judge such people harshly, because their problem is quite serious and requires sympathy from the environment.
- Support … An aggravated social phobia can lead to such dire consequences in a person as alcoholism or drug addiction, job loss and deep depression. Therefore, it is unobtrusive to offer help to a person. If you refuse, you do not need to show aggression, but you must try again a little later.
Methods for dealing with social anxiety
Few people with this behavior feel happy. Sometimes they think about the question of how to stop being a social phobia. Experts have developed a number of recommendations for solving the voiced problem, which in many cases work.
Help of psychologists in the fight against social phobia
Healers of human souls suggest getting rid of such anxiety in the following way:
- Cognitive technique … With this method, there is an adaptation to those life issues that cause fear in the patient. In artificially simulated situations, the social phobia is asked to make a decision on his further actions. At the same time, such types of psychological treatment as role play and training are carried out, which have proven themselves to be excellent.
- Relaxation therapy … Sociophobes are constantly in a tense state, which affects their mental and physical condition. In this case, we are not talking about hypnosis, but learning to relax your muscles on your own. Usually ten sessions are enough to achieve any result, but the process can be longer.
Important! A sociophobe should know in advance that treatment with a psychotherapist is sometimes delayed for a long time. It is necessary to thoroughly prepare for the fight against mental illness, which prevents a person from taking a worthy place in society.
Medication help to get rid of social anxiety
If the subject flatly refuses to appear to the psychotherapist, then you can try to alleviate some of his negative symptoms with the help of medications. The following medicines will come to the rescue in this case:
- Antidepressants … The third generation miracle pills for relieving anxiety include Paroxetine, Citalopram, Fluoxetine and Sertraline (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors). However, they need to be taken only after a doctor's prescription, because in the end, you can get the opposite result.
- Benzodiazepines … The sounded short-term drugs include Triazolam, Brotizolam and Midazolam. Medications such as Clonazepam, Alprazolam and Lorazepam have an average effect. The most long-acting benzodiazepines are Diazepam and Chlordiazepoxide. However, one must be extremely careful with such treatment, because it sometimes causes addiction and re-depression after a period of remission.
Watch a video about who social phobes are:
Sociophobes are people who are constantly stressed when faced with a frightening situation. They themselves and their environment need to take the problem seriously. The consequences of the sounded phenomenon can be extremely negative, so it is worthwhile to start transforming your life.
