It might be social anxiety symptoms if you constantly worry about other people judging you, have a great deal of fear involving meeting new people, or feel overly self-conscious in social settings.
Water Gap Wellness Center offers mental health treatment in Pennsylvania. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you manage symptoms of depression.
What is Social Anxiety Disorder?
Social anxiety disorder is a mental health disorder that can cause many physical and psychological symptoms. Social anxiety is much more than worrying whether someone you’re attracted to likes you or feeling pressure to impress your boss at an office gathering. It’s a persistent mental health disorder that can last for months on end and interfere with your ability to conduct daily tasks.
Symptoms of Social Anxiety
Signs of social anxiety can be emotional or behavioral, but regardless, they are often persistent social anxiety symptoms that may or may not persist in between social events. Many people assume that symptoms of social anxiety only manifest when you are in a social setting, but some people experience intense feelings outside of their control, not just engaging in a social situation but for weeks before that situation happens or for weeks after. These symptoms can arise during the following:
- Social situations
- Giving speeches
- Performing on stage
- Participating in sports
- Work
- School
Physical Signs of Social Anxiety
Physical signs of social anxiety often happen during social events. These social anxiety symptoms can take place when you are interacting with other people or when you think about previous interactions you had or upcoming interactions. Some examples include:
- Blushing
- Sweating
- Trembling
- Rapid heart rates
- Having a blank in your mind, unable to remember anything
- Feeling sick to your stomach
- Speaking with an unnecessarily soft voice
- Maintaining a rigid body posture
Psychological Social Anxiety Symptoms
Some of the common signs of a social anxiety disorder are related to how you think and feel, not just during social engagements but before and after. Some examples include:
- Finding it hard to make eye contact with people
- Struggling to be around strangers
- Finding it difficult to talk to people in social settings, even if you want to
- Worrying that others will judge you negatively
- Avoiding places where people socialize
- Feeling self-conscious
- Worrying that others will notice your discomfort
- Overanalyzing your social interactions or looking for flaws in how you behaved after an event
- Always expecting the worst outcome from social situations
- Struggling with intense anxiety before, during, and after a social event
People struggling with a social anxiety disorder are likely to avoid situations where people might give them a lot of attention and avoid speaking out or talking to people even if they want to because they’re worried about embarrassing themselves. It’s equally common for people to experience symptoms of social anxiety that cause great concern before and during an activity, and analysis of where you might have made mistakes in any social interactions after inactivity.
Thankfully, if you struggle with social anxiety disorder and symptoms of social anxiety, you can find treatment with Water Gap Wellness Center.
Treating Social Anxiety Disorder
Signs of social anxiety can be treated primarily with psychotherapy and, in some cases, secondarily with medication. When you reach out to our team, we can help curate a personalized treatment program based on your needs, the severity of your condition, and any coexisting disorders.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the most prominent psychotherapies for social anxiety symptoms. This teaches you how to change how you think and act in social situations to make you less fearful. Cognitive behavioral therapy also teaches social skills that can reduce anxiety and improve your confidence before, during, and after social engagements.
We offer individual and group therapy sessions for cognitive behavioral therapy and many modalities. The combination of individual and group settings gives you a chance to focus on individual needs in private, one-on-one meetings, after which you can progress to group-level meetings where everyone in your sessions is trying to overcome similar symptoms of social anxiety disorder. These sessions allow you to learn from one another, share how you feel, try new coping mechanisms, and utilize the life skills garnered in your individual sessions in real-time.
Water Gap Wellness Center has multiple levels of outpatient care designed to offer more flexibility in your treatment. We provide dual diagnosis services, too, for social anxiety and coexisting substance abuse. It’s not uncommon for people with a social anxiety disorder to self-medicate with alcohol or drugs, particularly during social events.
We redefine mental health, providing innovative programming, a comfortable facility, and grounds where you can step away from your daily life and find coping mechanisms for social anxiety symptoms through individual and group therapy, evidence-based holistic practices, and medication-assisted treatment.
Reach out to Water Gap Wellness Center to learn more about our social anxiety treatment center.
