SOCIAL PHOBIA – Flashcards

Marked, persistent fear of social situations Person recognizes the fear as unreasonable Feared social situations are avoided Interference or distress Specify generalized if it includes most social situations

speaking in public Seating or drinking in public writing in the presence of others using public toilets being in a social situation in which the individual may say foolish things

Fear of negative evaluation Belief that others see them as inept, stupid, foolish Often demonstrate a vicious cycle of anxiety „³ social deficits „³ anxiety Hypersensitive to criticism Non-assertive Low self-esteem

Comorbid anxiety common Often lack intimate relationships Safety behaviours common (e.g., avoiding eye contact, covering face with hair) Information processing biases (Clark & McManus, 2002) Biases in: interpretations of social events, detection of positive responses of others, anticipatory and post-event processing

12% lifetime Equally prevalent in males and females (in clinical populations) Onset typically in late adolescence Appears in all cultures, although influenced by social norms

fear of panic NOT social evaluation

fears having panic attacks seen by others

is insidious

and APD

continuum: shyness -->social phobia--> APD; Rapee & Heimberg, 1997

FEAR OF SEEMING ANXIOUS ANXIETY SYMPTOMS BELIEF THAT SYMPTOMS ARE VISIBLE FEAR/CONVICTION OF NEGATIVE EVALUATION

Increased self-focused attention Use of misleading internal information Use of safety behaviours Pre- and post-event processing

Distorted image of public self is central Increase in self-focused attention/self-monitoring in social situations -->see self from observer perspective But observer images = excessively negative, distorted ¡V feared not actual performance

their attention shifts from observation of others to detailed monitoring and observation of themselves

Compared to low socially anxious individuals, high socially anxious individuals showed an internal attentional bias that was specific to conditions of social-evaluative threat.