What Is Social Anxiety ?
Social anxiety means to have anxiety or an intense fear of being judged, embarrassed or ridiculed by others in a social situation. According to “Social Anxiety Ireland” the disorder affects roughly 13.7% of Irish adults, this is equivalent to 1 in 8 people.
Social Anxiety Versus Being Shy
More often than not social anxiety tends to develop during your teenage years. It is a popular misconception that we simply dismiss social anxiety and put the symptoms down to just being shy or quiet. We need to put this confusion to an end. There is an immense difference between shyness and social anxiety disorder. We should not generalise them as the same thing. Shyness may be accompanied by some nerves or awkwardness, however anxiety is far more severe and may lead to panic attacks, isolation and a crippling fear of interaction with people. I believe it is extremely important we educate and spread awareness on this debilitating disorder. Many people might not even be aware they suffer from the condition and therefore are not getting the help and support they deserve.
Anxiety Symptoms In Teens
In my opinion we should focus on diagnosing and helping teenagers with social anxiety in particular. The teenage years are already difficult and awkward enough on their own, never mind any added stress or worries. Teenagers with social anxiety symptoms may start to isolate themselves from their friends and begin to cancel or avoid social situations. This isn’t ideal as teens are constantly being encouraged to socialise and interact with others not just in school but outside as well. To those suffering with anxiety this could potentially create a sense of fear and feeling of being trapped in uncomfortable circumstances.
Help For Teenagers With Social Anxiety
I think to counteract this growing condition we need to normalise attending therapy. We also need to increase the resources to make it more available to everyone. We could do this by providing one on one counselling sessions to all students in secondary and third level schools. It would also help if we could increase government funding on mental heath services such as CAMHS. If we start promote opening up and communication with your family and friends. We also should introduce people to the world of online counselling.
I believe it is very essential that we start to make alternate therapy practices such as sound therapy more well known. Now you may be thinking “Is there even a sound therapy or counselling practice near me ?” The answer is yes. Anam Cara Therapy is a private practice located at the Treatment Room in the City North Hotel, Gormanston, Co.Meath. However they also provide online sessions via email, live chat and video chat as well. You can reduce or eliminate social anxiety symptoms with CBT or Mindfulness.
Lastly I believe we need to recognise social anxiety as a valid and real disorder. It deserves just as much attention as other conditions. The waiting times in Ireland for counselling sessions unfortunately are very poor at the minute. We are making people in desperate need for care wait anywhere between 6 to 9 months for an appointment. It was even reported that in 2019 there had been over 7,500 children who had to wait over a year to get seen for occupational therapy in Ireland. As a country, we have to fix this.
Why Is This Topic Important To Me ?
I chose to write about this topic as I am a teenager myself. It would be great to spread awareness for social anxiety disorder and hopefully do my bit to help those suffering. I also would like to show people all the services available out there to help cope with this undermining disorder. Finally I personally would like to let everyone know they can get through it and they don’t have to go through it alone. This is thanks to the resources out there such Anam Cara Therapy.
Article written by Aoife Rooney and reviewed by Mary “Em” Ryan.
