Health

Anxiety is a normal experience. Moderate or high levels of anxiety can increase alertness and performance in particular situations. However, people who experience continuous or recurring fears, or episodes of intense fear can feel powerless to manage their symptoms and their lives can become severely restricted.

The five major anxiety disorders are Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety (sometimes referred to as Social Phobia), Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Other types of disorders are Specific Phobia and Separation Anxiety.

Untreated or unrecognized anxiety disorders can lead to secondary conditions such as agoraphobia, depression, alcohol and drug abuse, or tragically in some cases, suicide.

TABLE 1
Diagnostic Criteria for Social Phobia

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A. A marked and persistent fear of one or more social or performance situations in which the person is exposed to unfamiliar people or to possible scrutiny by others. The individual fears that he or she will act in a way (or show anxiety symptoms) that will be humiliating or embarrassing. note: In children, there must be evidence of the capacity for age-appropriate social relationships with familiar people and the anxiety must occur in peer settings, not just in interactions with adults.

B. Exposure to the feared social situation almost invariably provokes anxiety, which may take the form of a situationally bound or situationally predisposed panic attack. note: In children, the anxiety may be expressed by crying, tantrums, freezing, or shrinking from social situations with unfamiliar people.

C. The person recognizes that the fear is excessive or unreasonable. NOTE: In children, this feature may be absent.

D. The feared social or performance situations are avoided or else are endured with intense anxiety or distress.

E. The avoidance, anxious anticipation, or distress in the feared social or performance situation(s) interferes significantly with the person's normal routine, occupational (academic) functioning or social activities or relationships, or there is marked distress about having the phobia.

F. In individuals under 18 years of age, the duration is at least six months.

G. The fear or avoidance is not due to the direct physiologic effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition and is not better accounted for by another mental disorder (e.g., panic disorder with or without agoraphobia, separation anxiety disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, a pervasive developmental disorder or schizoid personality disorder).

H. If a general medical condition or another mental disorder is present, the fear in Criterion A is unrelated to it; (e.g., the fear is not of stuttering, trembling in Parkinson's disease or exhibiting abnormal eating behavior in anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa.)

TABLE 2 Common Fears in Social Phobia

Public speaking or performing Making "small talk" Small group discussion Asking questions in groups Being introduced Meeting or talking with strangers Being assertive Being watched doing something (e.g., eating, writing) Attending social gatherings Using the telephone Using public restrooms Interacting with "important" people Indirect evaluation (e.g., test taking)