Do you have social anxiety disorder as well?

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Callista
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03 Jul 2009, 1:01 pm

ToughDiamond wrote:
This has got me wondering......is anxiety still classed as social anxiety if there are no other people present at the time, e.g. getting a letter from DSS saying "we need to see you about your benefit claim" ? Or dreading an encounter with an authority figure or some other bully? (excuse the value judgement there but I'm typing in a hurry :oops: ) Or is it confined to feeling anxious when actually in the company of ordinary (and relatively harmless) people?
DSM: "A marked and persistent fear of one or more social performance situations in which the person is exposed to unfamiliar people or to possible scrutiny by others."

Yes. Feeling anxiety just thinking about a feared situation, such as when you get a letter from DSS, is one of the signs of a phobia. And yes, it includes bullies--but if it includes only bullies, than it is probably very natural social anxiety (rather than social anxiety disorder). The fear of something must occur while in the presence of the object, though it doesn't need to occur only when in the presence of that object.

I should note that many of us with life-long social anxiety (the feeling not the diagnosis) should not technically be diagnosed with social anxiety disorder because it cannot be diagnosed if the symptoms can all be explained by a pervasive developmental disorder. If, on the other hand, social anxiety occurs later in life, after the PDD without social anxiety is already evident, then it can be a separate diagnosis. Ex. a first-grader becoming frightened of being judged by the kids at school, vs. a first-grader who has always become tense in the company of others that are not extremely familiar (parents, generally).

So: If you are avoiding people because they stress you out and you like to be alone, then it is one of your autistic traits and not a social phobia. It can still be diagnosed if you once had no, or little, fear of being with people (to the limit of your desire to be alone--think of it as the difference between hating to take out the trash because the crinkle of the bag drives you nuts, vs. hating it because you are afraid you will get germs on you.)


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