When can you say that someone is just shy, and when can you say that some already has a social phobia? It is very hard to distinguish between the two because oftentimes, social phobia is simply thought to be shyness. However, in spite of the fact that shy people can be a little uneasy around other people, the level of anxiety that is felt by people who suffer from social phobias are on a high level that is beyond that of the typical shy person. And that spells the difference between the two. The onset of social phobia is usually seen during the early adolescence stage.

There are several consequences that a teen with a social phobia has to face. Aside from alienating herself from the social scene and veering away from dates and in social situations, this phobia may also take its toll on his or her education. This is the time when social phobia starts to pose a great problem for teens.

An example is this girl I knew in high school. T first, we thought she was just the shy type, so whenever she declines to attend parties and social gatherings, we just let her. We figured she wasn’t the type to attend social events. But as time went by, her plight got worse, to the point that she doesn’t even come to class anymore because she was always afraid to speak and recite in class.

I don’t know what happened to that girl; none of us knew. The news is that she and her family left for another country. I guess nothing can be done now, but still, I think that this case in point proves that social phobia should be dealt with accordingly because it’s a serious problem, not only for teens and for young adults. So if you know someone who manifests extreme and irrational fear of social situations, report it to a person in authority so that something might be done before things get out of hand.

You may be suffering from an anxiety disorder; or you may just think you are. False alarms are not unheard of; anyway. But just to be perfectly sure, read up on anxiety disorders so that at least, you have basic knowledge of the matter at hand.

After your initial research, go and seek help from your family physician, moreso if you feel that you really are suffering from an anxiety disorder. Of course, you don’t have the authority to diagnose yourself even if you feel as if you’ve read up all you can on anxiety disorders. This is precisely why you have to seek the help of an expert; one that your family physician will refer you to once you have initially talked to him or her about your worries.

During diagnosis, expect the doctor to ask a lot of questions about your history as well as your present experiences. Be open—this is part of the assessment process. The more open you are, the less chances of your doctor giving you a wrong diagnosis.

Once you have been diagnosed with a particular anxiety disorder, keep a positive attitude. Do not aggravate your condition by feeling sorry for yourself. Set up a support structure for yourself; surround yourself with the people who loves you and keep negative emotions at bay.

All of us tend to feel anxious at times. Somehow, it is normal to be beset with feelings of worry over events, occurrences, situations, and the people in our lives. A teen is no different from the other age groups who are experiencing anxieties, it is only that the teens’ anxiousness is compounded with the stage of puberty where he or she starts to feel confused with the hormonal changes in his or her body that sometimes make anxiety harder for his or her.

But to set the record perfectly straight, having anxieties, or in some cases, having anxiety disorders is nt synonymous to being mad or crazy. It is only when the level of anxiety has reached the point where a person no longer feels adept in dealing with his or her daily life that problems begin. But still, anxiety disorders are not incurable. In fact, proper medication and therapy and counseling can guarantee a full recovery from an anxiety disorder.

What are the types of anciety orders? There are basically five types of anxiety disorders: (1) specific phobia; (2) teen social phobia or the teen social anxiety disorder; (3) obsessive-compulsive disorder; (4) stress-related disorders; and (5) generalized anxiety disorder.

Specific phobias are characterized by extreme distress, which is due to a person’s grossly irrational fear of certain objects or people or physical set-ups. Set off by early signs of extreme shyness, which later turns into dread of social performances and grave fear of embarrassment. Other symptoms of Teen Social Phobia are hypersensitivity to criticism, negative self-evaluation, fear of rejection, social passivity, feelings of inferiority, poor social skills, and noticeable signs of anxiety. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is the presence of “unwanted thoughts, images, or impulses that cause significant stress to the person suffering from it.” It can take the form of constant doubts, fear of contamination, the unexplained need for order, Stress-related disorders, for which Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Acute Stress Disorder are examples of, are triggered by trauma of a particular event during the early childhood of the person suffering from it. Generalized Anxiety Disorders is characterized by having constant worries that cannot be controlled by the person suffering from it.