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Thread: What age does social phobia usually begin?

  1. #1
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    What age does social phobia usually begin?

    Can one have social phobia their entire life, meaning, from a very young child?

    I've heard that it usually occurs around puberty, but does this happen even to outgoing children, or does it usually occur to people with shy temperments?

    Is the difference between people who have the SA disorder and who are just naturally VERY shy (though they fit all the symptoms for the disorder) just that the shy people have had it since they were born and the people with the disorder have had it since puberty?

    I'd appreciate any thoughts on the subject.

  2. #2
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    hi u-tiger

    my thoughts on this, im not sure who would be able to answer those questions and you'd probably get a different opinion from every other person that did answer.

    are you trying to decide which of these 2 phrases fits you best? i tend to see them as 'generalised labels' and knowing which one to use doesnt really fix the problems created by it. still hope this helps, tc .. andrew

  3. #3
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    No, not really, I'm just trying to figure out what the dividing line is for curiousity's sake.

    Thanks though.

  4. #4
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    I think people develop it at any age like panic and anxiety.

    We never know when it will come along


    Nicola

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    hi u-tiger

    i think the dividing line between the terms shyness and social anxiety is judged by the amount of discomfort caused to a persons feelings.
    and like all anxieties, anybody can suffer from it.
    it is still quite a new 'anxiety' in terms of causes, understanding and awareness, i do remember reading a book - overcoming social anxiety, which was quite helpful, anyway tc .. andrew

  6. #6
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    good question,i tend to think shyness and social anxiety are the same thing. But also shyness is a generalized term used to describe anyone quiet..

    My thinking at the moment is some people are more sensitive then others, those more sensitive have a greater chance of suffering from SA or any mental illness for that matter. Anotherr factor being enviroments they live in.

    A question i've been thinking about, are some people born more senstive than others or do we learn sensitivity from our olders or is it a combination?.











  7. #7
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    To your question, I think it can be both. There are small children who are simply born with a more inhibited personality (I'm reading a book about it, actually), and also you can train yourself or others can train you to be shy. In some cases, you reward yourself for being shy because it can get you out of situations that cause mild anxiety if you're naturally born with an inhibited personality, and over time when you feel lessening of anxiety for hiding from people, you get more of a buildup of pressure and anxiety when you actually do talk to strangers or are in the center of attention. It ends up being a habit so thoroughly engrained that it alters your neural pathways and fear mechanisms.

    At least that's my theory. Someone can call me crazy if they want. :P

  8. #8
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    I think there is a big difference between shy or inhibited children and a someone with true social anxiety. I was a shy child who "grew out of it" in high school, but then developed the social anxiety I have now. I may be totally wrong about this, but social anxiety takes time to develop.

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    Typical...I wrote an elaborate reply to this topic, only to accidently push the button on my keyboard, the one that shuts my computer down! Argh :(

    Try again.

    Tiger

    <b id="quote">quote:</b id="quote"><table border="0" id="quote"><tr id="quote"><td class="quote" id="quote">To your question, I think it can be both. There are small children who are simply born with a more inhibited personality (I'm reading a book about it, actually), and also you can train yourself or others can train you to be shy. In some cases, you reward yourself for being shy because it can get you out of situations that cause mild anxiety if you're naturally born with an inhibited personality, and over time when you feel lessening of anxiety for hiding from people, you get more of a buildup of pressure and anxiety when you actually do talk to strangers or are in the center of attention. It ends up being a habit so thoroughly engrained that it alters your neural pathways and fear mechanisms.

    At least that's my theory. Someone can call me crazy if they want. :P</td id="quote"></tr id="quote"></table id="quote">
    We briefly talked about this in my other topic, but your post makes perfect sense to me, nothing crazy about it.


    SickOfIt

    <b id="quote">quote:</b id="quote"><table border="0" id="quote"><tr id="quote"><td class="quote" id="quote">I think there is a big difference between shy or inhibited children and a someone with true social anxiety. I was a shy child who "grew out of it" in high school, but then developed the social anxiety I have now. I may be totally wrong about this, but social anxiety takes time to develop.</td id="quote"></tr id="quote"></table id="quote">
    This is something that I have been pondering about lately, as you'll see if you read my other topic 'Your Social Anxiety'. Basically wondering if I have SA or not. So for the purposes of this topic I thought I'd look up a definition of SA, and found this:

    [quote]<b id="quote">quote:</b id="quote"><table border="0" id="quote"><tr id="quote"><td class="quote" id="quote">Social anxiety is the fear of social situations and the interaction with other people that can automatically bring on feelings of self-consciousness, judgment, evaluation, and inferiority.

    Put another way, social anxiety is the fear and anxiety of being judged and evaluated negatively by other people, leading to feelings of inadequacy, embarrassment, humiliation, and depression.

    If a person usually becomes anxious in social situations, but seems fine when they are alone, then "social anxiety" may be the problem.

    Social anxiety disorder (formerly termed "social phobia") is a much more common problem than past estimates have led us to believe. Millions of people all over the world suffer from this devastating and traumatic problem every day, either from a specific social anxiety or from a more generalized social anxiety.

    In the United States, epidemiological studies have recently pegged social anxiety disorder as the third largest psychological disorder in the country, after depression and alcoholism. It is estimated that 7-8% of the population suffers from some form of social anxiety at the present time. The lifetime prevalence rate for developing social anxiety disorder is 13-14%.

    Specific and Generalized Social Anxieties

    A specific social anxiety would be the fear of speaking in front of groups (only), whereas people with generalized social anxiety are anxious, nervous, and uncomfortable in almost all social situations.

    It is much more common for people with social anxiety to have a generalized type of this disorder. When anticipatory anxiety, worry, indecision, d

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