Giving a public presentation makes many people nervous.
But perhaps it makes you so nervous that you worry for weeks before the
event. You may even start to feel ill just thinking about it. Or,
perhaps you're so anxious about driving through a tunnel that you go
miles out of your way to avoid it.
A phobia is a persistent
irrational fear of an object or a generally harmless situation.
Accompanying the fear is a strong desire to avoid what you fear and, in
some cases, the inability to function while doing normal tasks.
Treatment of phobias may help you reduce your fears and help you better
manage the object or situation that makes you anxious.
Specific Phobias include a fear of enclosed spaces (claustrophobia); heights (acrophobia); flying; animals, particularly spiders, snakes or mice; storms; injections; tunnels; dentists; bridges; and not being able to get off public transportation quickly enough.
Fear of open spaces (agoraphobia) sometimes develops after having one or more panic attack.
Agoraphobia is a fear of being on your own in a place, such as a mall
or an elevator or a room full of people, with no easy means of escape
if a panic attack should occur.
Social phobias
involve a combination of excessive self-consciousness, a fear of public
scrutiny or humiliation in common social situations, and a fear of
negative evaluation by others.
Simply feeling uncomfortable or
uncertain about an object or situation can be normal and common. But if
your fear becomes irrational and uncontrollable to the point that it
affects your social interactions or job duties, you may have a disorder
that requires therapy.
For insight into thought field therapy for phobias, please see the Callahan Techniques Web site.
We do not receive wisdom; we must discover it
for ourselves after a journey through the wilderness, which no one else can make
for us, which no one can spare us, for our wisdom is the point of view from
which we come at last to regard the world -- Marcel Proust
Feeling shy at parties or nervous about giving a speech doesn't
necessarily mean you have social anxiety. For
instance, you may not like making speeches but you do so anyway without
being overwhelmed by anxiety. What sets social anxiety apart from everyday nervousness is
that the symptoms are far more severe, last far longer and cause you to avoid uncomfortable situations. Social
anxiety disrupts your life, causes you distress and affects
your daily activities.
Everyday experiences that may be difficult to endure when you have social anxiety might include:
Attending a party where you are expected to socialize
Using a public restroom or telephone
Returning items to a store
Interacting with strangers
Reading aloud or writing in front of others
Making eye contact
Entering a room in which people are already seated
Ordering food in a restaurant
Being introduced to people you have not met before
Initiating conversations
Social anxiety
symptoms can change over time. They may increase if you're facing heavy
stress or demands on your time. If you completely avoid situations that
make you anxious, you probably will not have the symptoms. Avoidance
may allow you to feel better in the short term, but your anxiety is
likely to persist long-term if you do not receive therapeutic
treatment. If you’d like to learn more about social anxiety, see the Social Phobia / Social Anxiety Association web site.
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will be provided via e-mail. Meeting with you in-person
is the most-productive way to help you achieve your goals.
Sue Legacy, ACSW, LCSW Counseling and Therapy Offices 4408 Spicewood Springs Road, Suite 104 Austin, Texas 78759 (512) 372-9595 Registered domain names: LegacyCounselingAustin.com and SueLegacy.com
