Social phobia
We all know that your imagination can make you 'see' or believe many things. Lying in bed late at night, listening to all the sounds. Before you know it, you believe that somebody is in your house.
An active imagination can be a huge asset if you want to be creative, but the problem starts when your imagination awakens fears and phobias in you.
We are all scared of dangerous situations where we feel threatened like getting in an accident or a fire or being dragged into the sea by a strong current or the crime statistics and it is normal to be afraid of or in certain situation.
A phobia on the other hand is an intense, irrational fear of something that is not necessarily dangerous. Lots of people have phobias and it can be so bad that the person can get a panic attack with shortness of breath, rapid heart beat, a dry mouth and shaking.
People develop phobias for things and situations like the dark, animals, blood, social gatherings, spiders, cats, lifts etc but we will be looking at a phobia that is very much part of today's society.
A social phobia.
This is a very complex phobia and you have a deep seeded fear that people will criticize and humiliate you. People with this type of phobia will try and prevent social contact as far as possible and they are even scared to eat in public, use the public restrooms or say something in company where the other people's attention will be focused on them.
They are scared of attention because they believe the other person will see if they maybe do something wrong or that other people will tease them. They can also not look other people in the eyes, they do not want to draw any attention to themselves and they are mostly very shy.
This phobia can get so bad that the person with the phobia will start avoiding any interactions and never leave their homes. They also have a low self esteem and feels inferior and rejected by society and can get depressed.
Even though people with this phobia knows that their fears are irrational, they cannot stop the anxiety. They cannot prevent the fear from controlling their feelings and reactions.
If you have a social phobia, you will have overwhelming thoughts like
I am going to be uncomfortable and act silly, I will look stupid, A lot of people will think I am crazy or I am going to feel embarrassed.
Nowadays it is so easy to never leave your house, You can do every single thing online - from ordering food, to pills or even work from home. This will not help the situation or calm your fear, you will just withdraw more and more and feel more you belong nowhere.
So what must you do if you think you suffer from social phobia?
Face your fears. One of the most helpful things you can do to overcome social anxiety is to face the social situations you fear rather than avoid them. ... It is okay to have feelings that cause you anxiety, but if these feelings are not addressed it will be increasingly difficult to move past them.
You can read more on this link and watch the video https://www.helpguide.org/articles/anxiety/social-anxiety-disorder.htm
