Symptoms of social anxiety disorder typically fall within three different areas. While everyone's experience is different, symptoms of the condition typically result in physical, cognitive, and behavioral symptoms.
The physical symptoms of SAD can be extremely distressing. Common physical symptoms include:
-Chest pain and tightness
-Feelings of unreality (derealization) or feelings of detachment from oneself (depersonalization)
-Heart pounding (palpitations) and racing (tachycardia)
-Lump in the throat
-Ringing in the ears
-Shortness of breath
In some cases, these physical symptoms may become so severe that they escalate into a full-blown panic attack. However, unlike those with panic disorder, people with SAD know that their panic is provoked by fears of social and performance-related situations rather than fears about the panic attacks themselves.
Social anxiety disorder also involves cognitive symptoms, which are dysfunctional thought patterns. If you have this condition, you might find that you are bothered by negative thoughts and self-doubt when it comes to social and performance-related situations.
Below are some common symptoms that you may experience:
-Negative beliefs: Strongly held beliefs about your inadequacy in social and/or performance-related situations
-Negative bias: A tendency to discount positive social encounters and magnify the social abilities of others
-Negative thoughts: Automatic negative evaluations about yourself in social or performance-related situations
For example, imagine you start a new job or arrive on the first day of a new class. The instructor or manager asks everyone to introduce themselves to the group.
If you have social anxiety disorder, you may start to have negative thoughts such as, “Everyone else looks so much more relaxed,” “What if I say something dumb?” or “What if everyone notices my voice shaking?”
These thoughts start to rapidly spiral out of control to the point that you don't hear anything anyone else has said. When it comes to your turn, you say as little as possible and hope that no one has noticed your anxiety.
Social anxiety disorder can also cause you to act in certain ways. In many cases, you might find yourself making choices based on fear and avoidance rather than your actual preferences, desires, or ambitions. For example, you may drop a class to avoid doing a presentation or turn down a job promotion because it meant increased social and performance demands.
Below are some common behavioral symptoms:
-Avoidance: The things done or not done to reduce anxiety about being in social or performance-related situations
-Safety behaviors: Actions taken to control or limit experiences of social or performance-related situations
-Escape: Leaving or escaping from a feared social or performance situation.
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