It is a while since I did my last blog. I am now winding down my counselling practice and devoting more time to writing and voluntary counselling people tramuatised by war or sexual abuse. In the last blog you saw how difficult it was for Jason to attend lectures. I
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Social Anxiety is a Huge Obstacle for Third Level Students
Jason, the case study of my book, lost friends due to his fear and avoidance, but resolved to move in with friends from home. He found new excuses to avoid facing the fact that this was now a deep rooted coping mechanism with detrimental results, particularly in attending lectures. As
Social Anxiety can be general or Specific. It is a serious complaint
In the last blog I looked at how to assess the seriousness of you social anxiety. Martin Antony and Richard Swinson in their book, The Shyness & Social Anxiety Workbook, suggest a simple technique for self-assessing the seriousness of your social anxiety, where you can measure on a scale from
Social anxiety is often accompanied by depression
Social anxiety is often part of a bigger problem. I have found that depression, lack of assertiveness, aggressiveness, worry, addiction and many of the issues listed in Appendix 1, are sometimes comorbid with social fear. In their book, The Essential Handbook of Social Anxiety for Clinicians, Rick Ingram and his
social anxiety can have some genetic factors
Psychologists have categorised social fear as an abnormal personality trait, an avoidant personality disorder or a phobia. Psychological distinctions are not crucial to this book, but we need to know why so many people harbour this particular fear. It is strange that researchers still argue about the origins of social
We are social beings and social fear damages this evolutionary tendency Social fear is essentially detrimental because the human has evolved as a social creature. Some early civilizations were organized on a tribal basis, designed for survival. Social fear, therefore, can be seen as an evolutionary reaction in the face
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The psychological feeling of defectiveness can translate into body image problems
In the previous blog I mentioned body image problems. Randy and Lori Sansone in their article, Body Image, have come up with an enlightened explanation of body image issues. They suspect that negativity tends to be concretized on a body level in shamed children. In other words psychological negativity is
Social fear is a constant destructive presence
Essentially, therefore, social fear is about oversensitivity of being judged, criticized or rejected by others; being acutely self-conscious and feeling embarrassed or humiliated. Barbara Markway, a psychologist in Jefferson City and an expert on social fear, makes the interesting point that people with social fear not only dread disapproval, but
Social anxiety destroys your life
Jason was mistaken if he thought that his fear would depart when he began working. It intensified and destroyed any attempt at happiness. “I would do my work to a high standard but I would lunch by myself, in a place away from work where my colleagues wouldn’t see me.
Social anxiety is crippling.
In my case study, Jason’s main issue was social fear coming from fear of abandonment and an insecure attachment to his father. It was his main presenting issue. His narrative shows how utterly disabling it can be, how it encourages avoidance, interferes with normal functioning and interferes with self-care. “By