Social phobia is a subtype of phobia, and phobia is formerly known as phobic neurosis, which is a kind of neurosis. The main manifestation is excessive and irrational fear of some objective things or situations in the outside world. The patient knows that this fear reaction is excessive or irrational, but it still occurs repeatedly and is difficult to control. Fear attacks are often accompanied by obvious anxiety and autonomic symptoms. Patients try to avoid objective things or situations that cause fear, or endure them with fear, thus affecting their normal activities.
Common phobia subtypes include agoraphobia, social phobia, and specific phobia.
Magee et al. reported the lifetime prevalence of three phobia subtypes in the United States: agoraphobia 6.7%, social phobia 13.3%, and specific phobia 11.3%. The median ages of onset of the three phobias were 29, 16, and 15 years old, and there were more women than men. The prevalence is highest in the 25-44 age group.
The course of most phobia patients is protracted and tends to become chronic. The longer the course of the disease, the worse the prognosis. Those with childhood onset and a single phobia have a better prognosis, while those with a wide range of phobias have a poorer prognosis.
The exact etiology and pathogenesis of social phobia are not yet fully understood. Similar to other phobias, social phobia is currently believed to be related to the following factors:
genetic factors
Phobias run in families, especially affecting female relatives. The results of the twin study also suggest that agoraphobia may be related to genetics and has a certain relationship with panic disorder. Some specific phobias have obvious genetic predisposition, such as fear of blood and injections. About 2/3 of the biological relatives of the proband suffer from the same disease. Unlike patients with this syndrome, they present with bradycardia rather than tachycardia and are prone to syncope.
Neurobiochemical Research
Studies have found that when social phobia patients have fear symptoms, the plasma norepinephrine level increases, the thyroxine-releasing hormone booster test is positive, and the growth hormone response caused by the clonidine provocation test is sluggish.
psychosocial factors
At the beginning of the 19th century, American psychologists used the conditioned reflex theory to explain the mechanism of phobias. They believed that the expansion and persistence of phobic symptoms were due to the repeated occurrence of symptoms that conditioned the anxiety, while avoidance behavior hindered the extinction of the conditioning.
You can go to the psychiatric department or clinical psychology department of a psychiatric hospital or a general hospital for treatment.
