Kohnen 1

Kevin Kohnen

Prof. Sandra

English 1201

26 March 2022

The Acknowledgement of Social Anxiety Disorder

Here I am standing on stage, arms trembling while I fidget with my notecards about to

give my speech in front of my entire class. This is the class where I have many friends and

acquaintances in, but now it is feeling hostile. Each gaze is personal as I stumble around my

words trying to form a coherent sentence. Quivering, I wrap up my thoughts and rush back to my

seat feeling unconfident in the lecture I just gave. This being the same lecture I’ve been

practicing day and night for the past two weeks, so what could explain my unsatisfactory

display? Social anxiety disorder. I had been diagnosed with social anxiety disorder for several

years before this ordeal and it was quite common for me to struggle in a regular social situation.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, social anxiety disorder is described as a

feeling of anxiety or fear in situations where a person may be judged by family, friends, peers, or

strangers. Whereas it often occurs in social situations like speaking in public, making friends,

dating, answering a question in class, meeting with a higherup, or placing an order for takeout

(National Institute of Mental Health). Even though I know I have social anxiety disorder some

might mistake it for shyness which isn’t the case and can often lead to a mixed understanding of

both conditions. Society needs to be more aware of social anxiety disorder so that people with it

can be more accepted and function better throughout their daily lives as lack of awareness leads

to more strain for people diagnosed.

 Kohnen 2

Being aware of the history of how social anxiety became recognized helps people

understand why it wasn’t always an official disorder. In the 1960s, social phobia was recognized

as a category separate than phobias by a proposition from psychiatrist Isaac Marks, a founder

member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (Cuncic). 20 years later, social phobia was added

as an official psychiatric diagnosis. However, during this time it only included having a fear of

performance situations and not casual conversations or similar circumstances. It wasn’t until

1985 that social phobia began being research and then 1987 that it was possible to diagnose

without getting confused with avoidant personality disorder (Cuncic). Finally in 1994, social

phobia was replaced by the term social anxiety disorder. This made the disorder more

generalized and included common social situations. These changes being paramount for the

future as less people are being diagnosed improperly and are now able to recognize and

understand the issues they have better.

Another way to help people understand social anxiety disorder better is if they learned

how it is developed. Firstly, one of the main causes of social anxiety disorder is hereditary

factors. For example, researchers found that certain parts in the brain that codes for fear and

anxiety are based on genetics (National Institute of Mental Health). Those genes can be pass

down from one generation to the next. Another factor to consider is that there are environmental

causes that leads to social anxiety disorder developing, typically occulting from adolescents to

young adult. An example of an environment cause would be the effect of bullying on a young

developing individual. Samantha Coyle, doctoral candidate in the school psychology program at

Northern Illinois University, did a study on exploring the association that bullying and peer

social support had on social anxiety. She and other researchers discovered positive peer

relationships were associated with lower levels of social anxiety. Likewise, researchers found
 Kohnen 3

that people that experienced bullying of some form from adolescence are linked with greater

reports of social anxiety during early adulthood (Coyle).

It is vital for a person to understand if they are more likely to have social anxiety disorder

statistically based on their age, sex, country, work statues, or education. Knowing if another

person similar to them is diagnosed then that can help educate the individual to look into if they

possess it as well. Philip Jefferies and Michael Ungar, both conceptualist and researchers for the

Resilience Research Centre, drafted a survey to study a set of 6,825 individuals and see if they

passed the criteria for having social anxiety disorder and if it was rising in youth. Those

participants including 3,342 males, 3,428 females, and 55 people who weren’t male nor female.

To continue, the participants are between the age of 16-29 years old and from 7 different

countries including Brazil, China, Indonesia, Russia, Thailand, United States, and Vietnam. The

reason why they choose teens to adults was, because 90% of adults usually already developed

social anxiety

disorder by the age of

23. Also, people from

separate countries

were picked to clarify

whether rates of

social anxiety

disorder is increasing

or not (Jefferies).

Fig. 1. Graphs depicting the levels of social anxiety by country and age (Jefferies)
 Kohnen 4

The surveys that Jefferies and Ungar constructed included questions that were measuring

social anxiety, resilience, and social media usage that took 20 minutes to answer. To see if

someone has social anxiety disorder or not, some questions gave points towards the Social

Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) and if enough points were reached, they most likely had social

anxiety disorder. Their results however were that social anxiety was rising in youth, just as they

expected. Examining figure 1 shows that the United States has the highest average SIAS score

between all ages with 18-24 year-old individuals. Similarly, other data points showed almost

50% of individuals who saw themselves as not having social anxiety disorder did according to

SIAS (Jefferies). Based on the surveys, they concluded on global levels of that social anxiety

disorder was increasing and those aged from 18-24 are at the most risked. Finally taking this a

step farther if a 18-24 year-old female individual is from the United States and in a rural or

suburban area, they would be the most at risk from that group statistically. If more people

learned about Jefferies’ and Ungar’s findings, it would help combat the raising numbers in

youths.

Unlike some disorders, social anxiety disorder is treatable to an extent. Working with

mental health professional like counselors or therapist can help elevate some symptoms. Also,

talking with a professional can help by getting a diagnostic if you are unsure if you possess a

social anxiety disorder (National Institute of Mental Health). Working from there, you can then

be prescribed with an anti-anxiety medication if desired. However, Dr. Neil Leibowitz, chief

medical officer with Beacon Health Options, states “(anti-anxiety medications) start working

right away to reduce the anxiety, but they can’t be taken indefinitely as people develop an

intolerance and sometimes a dependence on them” (Howley). This needs to be kept in mind as
 Kohnen 5

instead of a one and done solution, it will be beneficial to treating anxiety for a short period of

time while the diagnosed works with a mental health professional or some other long-term

solution.

Some people have a few concerns and confusions about social anxiety disorder, but there

are answers for the most commons one. For example, many people believe social anxiety

disorder is the same as being shy. However, these are two separate conditions with different

symptoms. Nicole Arzt, who has a masters in counseling and a bachelor is psychology, explains

that people with social anxiety might experience chest tightness, panic attacks, or migraines.

Those conditions being worst with a person with social anxiety disorder than if someone is shy

(Arzt). Another common question is that if there is treatment, why should social anxiety be an

issue? The current best treatment used to remedy social anxiety disorder involves consulting a

mental health professional which can be really expensive if you attend multiple appointments.

Ashley Lauretta, a journalist working for Forbes health, stated that the average cost of attending

therapy in the U.S. can range from $100 to $200 per session depending on where you live

(Lauretta). Not everyone has money to be spent on helping their disorder let alone the money to

get diagnosed in the first place or to afford anti-anxiety medications.

Currently there are multiple ways to help a person with social anxiety disorder that are

practiced today. Coyle claims that positive peer interactions can help a person feel less anxious,

while Howley suggest professional therapy and different medications are effective. However,

educating people about social anxiety and how to accommodate people living with it is another

way for them to fit in better into society (Richard). Furthermore, learning which people are the

most at risk will help combat the rising rates. For myself, having people who root for me and

understand my struggles are what benefits me the most and help me overcome my disorder.
 Kohnen 6

Works Cited

Arzt, Nicole. “Shyness vs Social Anxiety: Understanding the Difference.” Choosing Therapy, 21

Jan. 2022, https://www.choosingtherapy.com/social-anxiety-vs-shyness/.

Coyle, Samantha, et al. “Keep Your Friends Close: Exploring the Associations of Bullying, Peer

Social Support, and Social Anxiety.” Contemporary School Psychology, vol. 25, no. 2,

June 2021, pp. 230–42. EBSCOhost, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1302723&site=eds-live.

Cuncic, Arlin. “Key Points in the History of Social Anxiety Disorder.” Verywell Mind, Verywell

Mind, 7 Nov. 2020, https://www.verywellmind.com/a-brief-history-of-social-anxiety-

disorder-3024708.

Howley, Elaine K. How to Overcome Social Anxiety | U.S. News. 30 June 2021,

https://health.usnews.com/conditions/mental-health/anxiety/social-anxiety.

Jefferies, Philip, and Michael Ungar. “Social Anxiety in Young People: A Prevalence Study in

Seven Countries.” PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, 17 Sept. 2020,

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0239133.

Lauretta, Ashley. “How Much Does Therapy Cost?” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 16 Mar. 2022,

https://www.forbes.com/health/mind/how-much-does-therapy-cost/.
 Kohnen 7

Ricahrds, Thomas A. “What Is It like to Live with Social Anxiety?” What Is It like to Live with

Social Anxiety? | Social Anxiety Institute, https://socialanxietyinstitute.org/living-with-

social-anxiety.

“Social Anxiety Disorder: More than Just Shyness.” National Institute of Mental Health, U.S.

Department of Health and Human Services, 2022,

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/social-anxiety-disorder-more-than-just-

shyness#part_6254.