Social Anxiety Treatment
THE TREATMENT OF SOCIAL ANXIETY
| The prognosis for diagnosed social phobics is excellent, with a reported 90% of
treated patients experiencing a significant reduction in symptoms. Treatment usually
takes one of two approaches, therapeutic and medicinal, and often combines the two.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), especially done in the context of group therapy, works
to alleviate the psychological and behavioral components contributing to the
disorder. Medications, such as benzodiazepines, MAOIs, and the antidepressant SSRIs,
can also work to control social anxiety, especially when coupled with a good therapeutic
program. |
 MedicationsThe
first approach to treatment of social anxiety disorder usually involves the prescription
of a psychopharmaceutical drug by a physician or psychiatrist. Typically an anxiolytic or
benzodiazepine (such as Xanax) is prescribed for situational relief. For more
chronic cases, it is common that an antidepressant (or Selective Serotonin Reuptake
Inhibitor such as Paxil) is used to target the biological production and/or
absorption of the neurochemical serotonin. While the psychopharmaceutical armament is
effective, there is no single drug that offers total relief or a cure. It should be noted
that efficacy and side effects (including sexual dysfunction) vary widely amongst
individuals.
Visitors should be aware that there is an ongoing debate as to whether anxiety
disorders are primarily the result of biological predisposition (and thus amenable to drug
treatment) or psychological in nature (and necessitating cognitive treatments). The
general wisdom holds that both physical and psychological causation are coterminous and
that medicine and therapy are inevitable partners in any recovery. Still, one will find
strong advocates for both poles, with some stating that anxiety disorders are the result
of flawed biology while others will argue that the use of medication is escapist and even
dangerous.
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 Cognitive-Behavioral
TherapyCognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) is a
psychological treatment which trains anxious people to overcome their fear through the
practice of a variety of exercises and coping techniques. With social anxiety, group
therapy is especially effective in that clients have the opportunity to practice their
learning in a safe and sympathetic environment. CBT usually begins with a study of
the disorder, examining the situations that provoke the anxiety and the accompanying
somatic symptoms. This educational process sets the understanding for training in
skills to alleviate and eventually conquer social phobia. These skills include
relaxation techniques, diaphragmatic breathing, the cognitive restructuring of distorted
and negative thinking that contribute to social anxiety, and a programmatic heirarchical
exposure to situations that precipitate anxiety.
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