Social
anxiety is the fear of being in social situations, being negatively scrutinized
by others, and being publicly embarrassed. This makes an individual suffering
from social anxiety to be highly self-conscious, hesitant, and avoidant of
social situations.
The
major cause of social anxiety has been found to be neurochemical imbalances.
The neurotransmitters norepinephrine, serotonin, and gamma ammunobutric acid
(GABA) are responsible for anxiety and arousal, and the dysregulation of these
neurotransmitters have been found to cause social anxiety. This makes social
anxiety all the more worrisome as it is something that occurs from birth.
Studies have shown that people born with such neurochemical imbalances have a
high risk of having social anxiety in adolescence and adulthood.
The
immediate negative consequence of social anxiety is having very limited social
interactions. The fear of being negatively scrutinized by others and being
publicly humiliated and embarrassed, along with being highly self-conscious,
makes the individual to avoid almost all kinds of social and interpersonal
interactions. This includes the most simple and basic social situations such as
going out for a walk, jogging, buying something from the nearby shop, going to
the bank, and even talking on the phone.
The
individual with social anxiety, due to all this, grows up isolated, having very
limited social interactions. The fruitful interactions that the person has are
limited to parents, siblings, and a few others with whom they might feel
comfortable. The other kinds of interactions that they may have are the
necessary ones such as in school, college, and workplace, which tend to be very
discomforting.
Having
healthy, fulfilling interpersonal interactions is a basic need for any
individual. A plethora of research in psychology indicates that positive
relationships are essential for social adjustment, happiness, and wellbeing.
What makes matters worse is that social anxiety may become a deterrent for the
individual to even have enjoyable alone time.
The
high level of self-consciousness and fear of being embarrassed becomes a big
obstacle for a person with social anxiety to have a good time even when the
individual does not necessary have to have fulfilling social interactions.
Everyone likes to have a good time by going out to have a good meal at a
restaurant, buy new clothes at a market or mall, or simply traveling to and
visiting places of interest.
Social
anxiety, however, makes the person avoid such activities, because even the
presence of people and having the most basic interactions with them can seem to
be daunting. Therefore, social anxiety does not just become an obstacle for
fulfilling interactions, but it also deters the individual in having the simple
pleasures in life and in many ways inhibiting personal growth.
With
having very limited social interactions and avoiding pleasure seeking
activities that add to their experience, the individual with social anxiety
grows to become socially awkward and someone who may always seem to be tensed
and worried, worsening the condition. The social awkwardness may at times even
drive others away, further reducing opportunities for social interactions and
increasing the fear of being embarrassed.
Not
having many people to socialize with, the person develops a shell around
him/her, making him/herself more and more isolated from the social world. This
naturally develops an unfulfilled need for intimacy and an unfulfilled desire
to have satisfying relationships - it develops the highly unpleasant feeling of
loneliness in the individual.
Loneliness
makes an individual feel unwanted and worthless. The desire to have fulfilling
interactions and relationships, but being unable to actually have such
experiences turns out to be very emotionally painful for the person. This
inability makes the person to further lose confidence and feel highly inferior
as compared to others.
The
individual starts feeling that others have friends, but he/she does not have
anyone to talk to. Sitting alone and viewing others laughing, smiling, and
having a good time with each other becomes heart-wrenching for a person who
experiences loneliness. The person begins to feel that he/she may never be able
to have friends and one day will die alone, and nobody will even know or care
about it. This consistent feeling makes the person morose, melancholic, and
hopeless.
The
hopelessness that begins in terms of not being able to have friends gradually
develops in almost all spheres of life. An extreme lack of confidence develops
in the person, to the extent that he/she loses any kind of desire. The
individual loses all desire to have a good education, a successful career, and
simple activities like eating food, having a shower, getting out of bed, or
even smiling. The person clearly begins to suffer from a severe depression.
Because
this depression stems from being unable to have social interactions due to
social anxiety, which leads to loneliness, others do not really understand what
or why the individual is going through such a state. The person might be having
all the comforts in life, but is still depressed, seems to be alarming and
unrealistic for others. Often, instead of depression, others view it as
laziness, carelessness, or just excuses for not doing anything.
The
individual getting the realization that nobody really understands him/her
worsens his/her condition. Being highly depressed and not getting any kind of
social support from others gets disheartening for the individual. This in a way
adds to the social anxiety of the individual as it makes him/her further keep a
distance from people. The whole cycle then continues, but in a more severe
form. A more severe form of social anxiety leads a more severe form of loneliness, which further
exacerbates the feeling of depression, stunting any kind of personal growth and
wellbeing. In the end, the person gets stuck in a vicious circle – the vicious circle
of social anxiety, loneliness, and depression.
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| Social Anxiety, Loneliness, Depression - The Vicious Circle |
Social
anxiety, therefore, is something that needs to be taken very seriously. It is a
highly debilitating problem that an individual experiences, which leads to
further severe psychological difficulties. It is for this reason that children
with social anxiety need to be brought up in a nurturing environment that makes
them emotionally competent.
This
is where the role of parents, siblings, relatives, peers, and teachers come in
to play. They are the ones who can provide that nurturing environment involving
care, comfort, support, and acceptance. This will certainly help the individual
to deal effectively with the fear of embarrassment in public places as well as
the feeling of being unwanted, inferiority, hopelessness, distress, and a
complete lack of confidence that may all come along with it.
1 comment:
Some very clear insights in this piece -- and regrettably, they are familiar to me from my experiences. I have made much progress overcoming isolation, but obstacles remain. Setbacks happen, but so does progress.
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