Today’s society has become a huge group of beings with prejudice, destructive criticism and rejection.
This is why some individuals with adverse qualities that are considered ” normal ” in society develop feelings of rejection by it.
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WHAT IS SOCIOPHOBIA?
In people with these characteristics, a typical human trait known as shyness begins, which is a feeling of insecurity or shame in oneself that a person feels when faced with certain social situations and that prevents or hinders them from starting conversations and relating to others.
Up to this point it can be considered normal for an individual to present this trait, in a regular measure, the problem is when this shyness reaches an extreme becoming somewhat sickly.
When shyness exceeds its limit it becomes something more serious which is called sociophobia.
Sociophobia is a syndrome characterized by anxiety, nervous tension, and discomfort caused by exposure to “social evaluation.”
Most people with this phobia are aware of their condition but are unable to cope with it in any way.
Commonly, the individual develops this phobia in adolescence because in their first social encounters they feel a fear of being looked at and judged by the people around them.
The sociophobic constantly encounters negative thoughts about himself, believes that he makes a bad impression and that he is a misfit.
You are frequently worried about being humiliated. For this reason we can say that this phobia is closely linked to factors such as low self-esteem and fear of criticism.
SYMPTOMS OF SOCIOPHOBIA
Those people who have this phobia must also deal with uncontrollable manifestations that make their socialization more difficult. These manifestations are really the symptoms that give us to visualize sociophobia.
Among the main symptoms we have : Anxiety, loss of voice when speaking with someone unknown or in public, excessive sweating, blushing in uncomfortable situations, stuttering and fear that their opinions are not of interest to other people.
Some of the situations feared by people suffering from sociophobia are usually related to speaking in public, eating or drinking in public, looking into the eyes, starting a conversation, giving or defending their opinions, among others.
TREATMENT TO OVERCOME SOCIOPHOBIA
The best known treatment to face sociophobia is cognitive behavioral therapy, this allows patients to understand their thoughts so that they can react differently to situations that cause shyness.
This therapy mainly tries to end the belief that others judge the individual negatively and tend to humiliate him.
There are advanced cases in which the help of drugs is necessary to combat conditions such as depression since this can lead to more serious consequences in the future.
To quickly combat shyness it is recommended:
- Make a list of difficult situations to overcome.
- Sort them according to the difficulty to overcome them.
- Make a plan to deal with each problem.
- Carry out the plan.
- Be convinced that the actions to be taken will be successful.
Alexa Clark specializes in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. She has experience in listening and welcoming in Individual Therapy and Couples Therapy. It meets demands such as generalized anxiety, professional, love and family conflicts, stress, depression, sexual dysfunction, grief, and adolescents from 15 years of age. Over the years, She felt the need to conduct the psychotherapy sessions with subtlety since She understands that the psychologist acts as a facilitator of self-understanding and self-acceptance, valuing each person's respect, uniqueness, and acceptance.
