Social phobia or Agoraphobia?
Sometimes this has been mis-diagnosed as agoraphobia and as a result the client has been shunted around from doctor to doctor with no real results. It can be very difficult to to establish, without some time spent, if a suspected case of agoraphobia is in fact a social phobia.
However, the wonderful news here is that any clients I have worked with on this have completely blossomed into new people with a new life and the transformation has been nothing short of astounding. Read on to see if any of this sounds familiar to you?
According to research carried out in the USA, social phobia is the third most common disorder after depression and alcoholism. It is encountered by most of us in varying degrees but most commonly duing our teenage years. It can start by a feeling of low confirdence, that other people are better than us or that we are different somehow and that others are judging us. This then progresses sometimes and becomes worse and polarised so that we feel that we can't be seen in public.
Many people increase in confidence and overcome the feelings of anxiety experienced from encountering crowds and social situations but some of us do not. Social phobia can also be due to a past experience or trauma which has stayed with us and caused us to feel insecure and judged in varying situations.
Symptoms frequently present themselves as insecurity and reluctance to enter into social situations, avoiding busy areas, anxiety/blushing/sweating before going out and frequently, if left untreated, end in an inability to leave the house without really knowing why.
Treatment
This is relatively straightforward to treat. Finding the first time it happened and why and working on self confidence and the way in which you can begin to disregard how others see you, are all the first stepping stones to let you begin to have the freedom you deserve and to be able to go out easily without giving anyone else a second thought on how they see you.
Anyone with a social phobia I have dealt with has been incredibly courageous and seeing them be able to go out and interact without fear of judgement or believing they are being watched or stared at is truly inspiring.
If you feel that anything described here relates to how you are feeling then contact me.
0161 320 9235 or 07956 895 171
Emma James MABNLP, MATLTA, MAHYP, Dip FTST, IHHTT
Private Clinics in Manchester & Stalybridge
Trainer and Master Practitioner of NLP, Hypnosis and TLT
Skype: emmajamesnlp
Leading UK combination therapist and confidential treatment
Appointments Tel: 0161 320 9235 Mobile: 0795 689 5171
Hypnotherapy, NLP, Time Line Therapy, stress management, anxiety treatment, eating & weight problems, social anxiety, depression, phobia, performance, sport performance