Social Anxiety Disorder And Social Phobia - 1803 Words

Social anxiety disorder or social phobia, is can be progressively debilitating condition which may affect individuals for the duration of their lives and with low rates of recovery among patients (Chartier, Hazen, Stein, M.B, 1998). Studies have shown that the disorder has an early onset with symptoms manifesting on average at age 16 in most adolescents. Social anxiety disorder features intense feelings of irrational fear of possible embarrassment and scrutiny of others during social situations (Canton, Scott, Glue, 2012; Ruscio et al., 2007). The effects of this disorder can be especially disabling as individuals have an increased risk of suffering from comorbid disorders including depression and substances dependeancy (Stein,†¦show more content†¦CBT uses various treatment strategies to help patients work on maladaptive behaviors by targeting symptoms, reduce the stress caused by them and helping client acquire skills that will allow them to change their way of thinking and responding to stress inducing situations. In this approach, the therapist focuses on the here and now (Zborowski, 2014) while assisting the patient by supporting and encouraging them to use personal resources to confront problematic behaviors. Both classical and operant conditioning are methods used in behavioral interventions, although elements modeling are often incorporated. Several methods and techniques are used during CBT such as systematic desensitization, exposure, relaxation, positive and negative reinforcement, cognitive modification, problem solving and stress management. Exposure and relaxation methods will be discussed during this paper, as most of the trials used these methods during treatment. During exposure, patients are repeatedly exposed to an anxiety producing stimulus and encouraged to resist from engaging in avoidance behavior. The patient then rides out the anxiety producing stimulus until it subsides allowing for emotional habituation (Leichsenring et al., 2006). Patients are also thought relaxation techniques to allow them to manage and reduce stress during situation of high anxiety. Another technique used in one of the studies discussed later is cognition modification. This methods helps patients identify