Extremely shy? - help is at hand

Help is at hand for those who suffer from extreme shyness. Shyness in its extreme form can have a huge impact on peoples' lives because it results in an avoidance of the usual common social situations, such as meeting new people or going on a date, and can also have an impact on work situations.

Shyness which is extreme is known as social phobia or social anxiety and is thought to affect as many as 7% of the population and is the third largest mental health care problem in the world today - it affects about one in 20 Australians.

Social phobia is defined as a fear of social situations that involve interaction with other people and involves fear and anxiety of being judged and evaluated by other people.

People with social phobia are often seen by others to be shy, quiet, backward, withdrawn, inhibited, unfriendly, nervous, aloof, and disinterested, when in fact they want to make friends and they want to be involved and engaged in social interactions - social phobia can lead to loneliness and depression if it is not treated appropriately.

People with a social phobia usually experience significant distress being introduced to other people, being teased or criticized, being the centre of attention,being watched or observed while doing something, having to speak in a formal, public situation, and meeting people in authority. They feel insecure and out of place in social situations, are easily embarrassed and avoid eye contact.

Social phobia can result in anxiety, intense fear, nervousness, automatic negative thinking cycles, racing heart, blushing, excessive sweating, dry throat and mouth, trembling, and muscle twitches - but constant, intense anxiety is the most common feature.

Cognitive-behavioural therapy for social phobia has been found to be very successful and for some social phobics medication is also useful when used in conjunction with cognitive-behavioural therapy.

Researchers at Macquarie University say social phobia is one of the more chronic and perplexing disorders a person can have and they have been trying to refine the process involved in current treatments, including cognitive therapy, to further improve outcomes.

In a new study the researchers showed that with a few adjustments to existing cognitive behaviour therapy, outcomes for people with social phobia can improve dramatically.

The improvements they added to existing treatments included giving sufferers clear, detailed feedback about their social performance and teaching them how to better focus their attention when feeling frightened.

The study participants were divided into small groups and over 12 weekly sessions they were taught some basic anxiety management techniques and were gradually encouraged to face their fears.

At the end of treatment, the researchers say over 40% of the participants showed large and dramatic changes in how they coped with their fears while many others showed good improvements.

Professor Ron Rapee, Director of the Centre for Emotional Health at Macquarie University, who led the study, says people with social phobia have high levels of shyness, and worry other people will think badly of them.

Professor Rapee says when a shy person feels they are the centre of attention, they immediately assume that the attention is negative and they are being judged and found lacking in some way, so they avoid the social activities most of us take for granted, such as meeting new people, going on dates, talking to authority figures, and speaking in public.

Professor Rapee says that while no one knows entirely what causes social phobia, it's clear that the people who suffer from this disorder have lives that are dramatically limited by their fears and in extreme cases, social phobia can interfere with relationships, work and social life.

The study is published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.