Sociale fobie afbeelding

Social phobia

About 5 – 15% of people will have to deal with a social phobia in their lifetime. Usually this occurs before the age of 20, in puberty or at the beginning of adolescence. The complaints often start gradually until it takes the patient a lot of energy to function normally.

Do I have a social phobia?

With social anxiety disorder, you avoid social situations where you may be criticized or where people may not like you. Such situations therefore evoke a lot of fear or anxiety. Examples of such social situations are having a conversation, giving a presentation, going to a birthday where there are many strangers, etc. People with social phobia are afraid that they will behave in a certain way, which will cause others to react negatively to them.

I always thought of myself as a loner and was not likely to make contact with new people. Connecting with new people always evoked some kind of uncomfortable feeling in me. "How the hell am I supposed to keep a conversation going?" I thought I was just like that. It did not provoke real fear, but that was because I never really met new people again. Still, I noticed that I needed to get in touch with new people. I felt like an outsider at work and I also wanted to enjoy a drink with colleagues on a Friday afternoon. Eventually I turned out to have social phobia. I found out that I avoided contact with new people because I was afraid of doing something wrong and that they might reject me.
Jermain
35

How do i get rid of social phobia?

People with social anxiety disorder avoid social situations because they experience strong fear or fright of a possible negative assessment of others. Treatment focuses on entering into social contact and social situations. Various social situations are practiced together with the practitioner. Step by step you will learn that people are not likely to judge negatively in social situations. But fair is fair! Of course it can happen that someone reacts negatively to something you do, but this happens to everyone. During the treatment you learn to deal with this better.