Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is one of many forms of anxiety disorder, and is characterised by uncontrollable fear or concern when faced with social interactions of all kinds; the fear is often regarding perceived negative judgment from others.
Social Anxiety Disorder Symptoms: The most obvious symptom you'll experience if you have social anxiety disorder is the irrational fear of being in any social situation.
The fear you feel will generally be of potential embarrassment or humiliation.
In fact, you'll probably imagine scenarios of future social situations where you can only see the worst of all outcomes.
As well as the psychological symptoms, you may well develop physical ones too, as many people with social anxiety disorder do.
These physical symptoms will typically include headaches, dizzy spells, nausea, a racing heart, sweating, and blushing.
Social Anxiety Disorder Treatment: If you have social anxiety disorder then the main treatment options available to you are medication, relaxation techniques, and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
In most situations, your doctor will advise you to try relaxation techniques first, before any medication is tried.
The relaxation techniques may include yoga, mindfulness breathing exercises, and gentle exercise such as tai chi.
If these relaxation approaches do not produce the desired results then CBT is often the next step.
Only after these other approaches have been tried is medication usually considered.
Social Anxiety Disorder Medication: The standard drugs prescribed to help social anxiety disorder are anti depressants.
These will usually be in the form of SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors).
However, your doctor may also prescribe a sedative for the short-term, and these will usually be from the Benzodiazepine family of drugs.
Benzodiazepines are habit-forming, though, and can therefore only be taken for a few weeks at a time..