Psycological Study on the Movie I Am Sam

Social Phobia

The effects of Social Phobia

INTRODUCTION

Social Phobia is an anxiety disorder that affects a large number of the world population. Large strides have been made to understand this disorder and to help overcome it with drug therapy as well as with behavioral therapy. Social Phobia in more than half the population seems to precede certain disorders like Substance abuse disorder, Panic disorder and depression. Unlike other specific phobia’s, social phobia begins in later adolescence or early adulthood (Hope & Heimberg, 1993; Well & Clark, 1997). College students much like us would fall under this category of late adolescent or early adulthood. In this study we will examine the effects of social phobia in specific areas.

According to The DSM IV TR social phobia is identified and marked by the persistent fear of social or performance situations in which embarrassment may occur. Exposure to social or performance situations immediately provokes anxiety response. The adolescent and adults experiencing this fear and anxiety realize their fear is irrational or unreasonable. The feared social or performance situations are avoided or endured with great anxiety or distress. Avoidance provides negative re-enforcement. The anxiety in the social or performance situation interferes greatly with a persons normal routine, occupational functionalities, social activities or relationships etc. The fear or avoidance must not be due to the direct physiological effects of a substance or general medical condition and should not be better accounted for by another mental disorder.

The symptoms of Social Phobia are not by any means a rare occurrence in the general normal population nor are they in college students. In fact using a general sample as a control group, social phobia research may result in lowered power given that the control group may exhibit many symptoms of social anxiety themselves (Hofmann and Roth, 1996). The most frequently asked items on the Skills for Academic and Social Success (SASS), seemed to be the question that people with social anxiety fear most. These frequently endorsed symptoms were ones that were externally detectable, like blushing, smiling inappropriately, sweating or laughing. (Purdon, Anthony, Swinson & Montiero, 2001). Thus proving we underestimate the anxiety that people feel and exhibit visibly. Greca and Lopez, 1998 also found a strong link between social phobia among college students and general peer acceptance. It was observed that those reporting higher levels of social anxiety felt less accepted and supported by their classmates and less romantically attractive to others.

Gender differences indicate that females are more likely to suffer from social phobia than males. The National Co-morbidity Survey used the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, third edition-revised criteria to reveal that the life time prevalence rate for social phobia in men was 11.1% and 15.5% in women (Kessler, 1994). Based on the study conducted by Heimberg, Orsille, and Holt on gender differences in social phobia we were able to see that woman frequently report greater anxiety than men. Most of the situations that provoke the anxiety in women were encountered in a work setting. Whereas men reported more fear than women when urinating in public restrooms and while returning goods to a store. Despite these difference, many common fears that both men and women who suffer from social Phobia face. Both men and women report fear for social situations that involved informal social interaction like going to parties or participating in small groups. They even reported a similar level of fear in observational settings like eating in a public place or making a phone call in a public place.

The consumption of alcohol and social phobia go hand in hand. Any anxiety or stress has been found to initiate drinking once started, and increases the likelihood of a relapse following alcohol treatment (Randall, Thomas & Thevos, 2001). In a fairly recent clinical study of people seeking alcoholic treatment with a comorbid current social phobia established that 100% positive response to using alcohol as a means to lessen anticipatory social anxiety (Randall, 2000). Researchers have found that when a person is suffering from anxiety and drinks, he or she is negatively re-enforcing themselves. Therefore drinking persists because it reduces the anxiety that