How Social Phobia can Lead to Teen Anxiety


Teens getting nervous over examinations, when they are asked to give public speeches or when they work in groups is not uncommon. But, those young people who have social phobia may be affected by teen anxiety in such situations. Due to this anxiety, they may try to avoid these situations or may even avoid routine social activities. But, there are treatments for this problem. If you are a teen who has been affected by this problem, you must first know about social phobia before opting for these treatments.

Social Phobia

Social phobia is irrational and those having this problem have an intense and constant fear over certain specific things. They may be objects, activities or social situations. These people may try to avoid these things or they may endure them with a lot of distress or anxiety. In many of the teens, this phobia may be limited to a few specific situations such as making public speeches or initiating conversations with strangers. But, there are teens who have this phobia and anxiety over all types of social situations.

Why Social Phobia Leads To Teen Anxiety

When the affected person feels self-conscious and is shy, he or she may experience symptoms like stomachache, rapid heart-rate, dizziness, etc. The person may fear being judged by the people around him or her. Since the person does not feel comfortable while being watched, he or she may avoid talking to others. Due to such behaviors, these affected teens may feel that they are failures. This feeling may result in teen anxiety.

What Is The Remedy For Social Phobia?

When a teen is having such social phobias, he or she cannot make friends with others and therefore, he or she must be treated suitably. There are therapists and psychologists who can treat these phobias competently. These experts will first ascertain if the problem is the common and normal anxiety or if it needs to be treated. If the doctor is certain that the problem is teen anxiety, he may prescribe suitable drugs and may also treat the person with behavioral therapy.

While medications can greatly reduce or even eliminate the embarrassing symptoms in the affected person, there may be certain problems. Since these drugs attack only the symptoms, the person should take the drugs continuously. There may be side effects for the drugs also. Therefore, the doctor may aim to find out the root-cause of teen anxiety and try to cure it fully.

So, the doctor may initially prescribe these drugs and may simultaneously take up behavioral therapy. This will help the doctor to identity the underlying cause and remove the phobias that cause anxiety. Exposure therapy is one of the types of behavioral therapy and in this, the affected teen is gradually exposed to the social situations that make him or her uncomfortable. When the teen is constantly exposed to such situations, his or her brain will realize that the situations are not as bad as he or she has been imagining.

There are certain other therapies like Relaxation Therapy, Beta-blockers, etc. for treating phobias and teen anxiety. The main point is that as soon as the teens come to know that they are having phobias, they should discuss it with their parents and consult a doctor also. If timely action is not taken, social phobia and teen anxiety may lead to depression and may affect their quality of life.

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