Social Anxiety Symptoms

Social anxiety symptoms can be the very cause of the escalation or the appearance of more social anxiety symptoms. For many people who suffer from social anxiety or downright social phobia, this scenario is quite common. This is called the domino effect, wherein one thing leads to another, and there is no way of stopping it until the last domino falls.

What Is The Domino Effect?

This would be best explained via an example. Let us take a man who mildly stammers only in the presence of other people. He is:

• Bound to stammer more when confronted with a gathering of peers and acquaintances. 
  
• As he begins to worry about people noticing his stammering or his attempts to correct his speech, he either becomes less coherent or downright refuses to communicate. 
  
• Thinking that people are being too judgmental of his “faults,” he tries to “hide” from people by preferring secluded places like the balcony or sitting alone in a corner with a drink.
  
• His heart palpitates at the thought of making such a mess of things. 
  
• He thinks about this “fiasco” constantly, which 
  
• Gives this social event quite a traumatic ending for the man.

And it does not even matter if people are noticing his stammering or not. It also does not matter if people mind or not; or that anyone cares. In that person’s mind, everyone has judged him negatively, and that it would be a “favor” to society if he could just remove himself from their presence.

Unfortunately, this kind of thinking inadvertently leads to depression; or worse, into alcohol or drug dependency and abuse. Depression and substance abuse often leads to isolation. And isolation escalates social anxiety symptoms.

Although some people who suffer from social anxiety, these symptoms can come and go – depending a lot on the person’s will to overcome his or her fear. However, for people with social phobia (which is the extreme case of social anxiety,) these symptoms can only plateau at a certain uncomfortable level or escalate.

There have been a great number of social phobia cases wherein people have literally barricaded themselves within their homes and have refused all forms of contact from the outside world. Just the mere “thought” of visitors at their doorsteps can send them into waves of panic and ill-ease for days prior and after the event.

Symptoms of Social Anxiety (Social Phobia)

• Hyperhidrosis or excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis.) In some cases, only one part of the body suffers from hyperhidrosis like the hands (sweaty palms.) This leads the person to refuse all forms of handshakes.
  
• Excessive fidgeting and uncontrolled bodily responses to stress. This may include everything from facial tics, heart palpitations, stammering, to whole body trembling. Many people with social phobia worry about knocking things over, or tripping or becoming generally clumsy. This is in response to their body’s reaction to stress – which unfortunately also escalates as the person becomes more stressed by their supposed “clumsiness.”
  
• Talking incoherently or not talking at all.
  
• Feeling sick, nauseous and / or extremely afraid without reason. Some people with social phobia eventually become truly sick with fever as an after effect of their social anxiety symptoms.

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