Causes Of Social Anxiety
If you’ve been feeling anxious and stressed about social situations lately, it’s not your imagination. In a recent survey of adults in the United States, 44 percent reported feeling shy or inhibited at least some of the time. So what's behind this rise in social anxiety?
Some experts believe that people are experiencing more stress than ever before because they're constantly checking their phones and social media accounts to see if they have enough likes or followers. But how much does technology really affect our feelings about ourselves? Our latest blog post explores this question and other potential causes of social anxiety.
Read more: http://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/02/social-anxiety.aspx
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Title: Trauma In Teens Can Affect Social Interactions into Adulthood
Date of Publication: April 19, 2018 - 10:00 am http://www.apa.org/monitor/2018/04/trauma-teens.aspx
Podcast featuring the article: https://soundcloud.com/rudy-glaser-1...
Title: Emotion regulation in 4- to 16-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder: The mediating role of their ability to understand another person's emotion
Date of Publication: January 16, 2018 - 10:00 am http://www.apa.org/monitor/2018/01/emoti...
Podcast featuring the article: https://soundcloud.com/rudy-glaser-1...
The official website for the American Psychology Association has a lot more information on many aspects of psychology and its application to the real world, including mention of the APA Monitor blog. To access these resources, go to www.apa.org/monitor .
In the Epilogue, Mr. Glaser shares his personal experiences with psychological disorders and the way his own professional experience has given him an understanding of what it means to be a professional psychologist as well as an understanding of the reality of psychology as a profession in society today.
SOCIAL ANXIETY IN IDENTIFIED SEXUAL MINORITY GROUPS : The APA Monitor used research conducted during 2016: a national survey and focus groups to identify the characteristics of those who report feeling anxious about their sexual orientation compared to those who do not. Here is that research in summary :
1. LGBTQ youth are stressed. Over half of LGBTQ youth surveyed (52%) said they worry about bullying or harassment at school or online, and three out of four LGBTQ youth (74%) report struggling for acceptance within their own families.
2. Social support is key to mental health. The absence of social support, the report added, meant more than twice as many survey respondents reported experiencing depression and significantly more reported contemplating suicide.
3. Social Media has a positive influence on some young people with regard to coming out, but a negative influence on others: About one-third of survey respondents said they learned they were not alone through "online resources.
4. Sexual minority youth are concerned about their safety. And, as a result, approximately three out of four (77%) say they have considered whether there is a safe place for them to go if things do not work out at home.
1. Researchers interviewed gay and bisexual men who were survivors of childhood sexual abuse and found that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals were significantly more likely than those in the general population to have experienced CSA before the age of 17 years old (59% vs. 24%).
2. Researchers also found that individuals who had been abused before the age of 13 years old were 3.2 times more likely to identify as a sexual minority compared with those who had not experienced CSA (59% vs. 19%).
3. Multivariate analysis revealed that gay and bisexual men who reported CSA also were more likely to be currently experiencing panic attacks, bulimia and/or anorexia nervosa than those who did not experience childhood sexual abuse.
1. When parents express homophobic attitudes, adolescents are more likely to report high levels of depression and suicidal ideation, even when those attitudes are not expressed directly toward the child, a new study finds.
2. The study also found that experiencing anti-gay bullying and harassment is associated with higher levels of depression, anxiety and suicidality.
3. “Adolescents who are victims of anti-gay bullying and harassment are at an increased risk for negative mental health outcomes,” said study lead author Richard Ryan, PhD. “This suggests that efforts aimed at preventing victimization of school-aged children should be a priority for psychologists working to protect the well being of adolescents.”
4. The findings are published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
5. The study included data from 1,041 adolescents from diverse racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds who completed a survey assessing victimization related to sexual orientation and victimization related to gender presentation.
6. Victimization was defined as being verbally harassed (e.g., threatened or insulted) because of one’s sexual orientation and/or gender presentation; physically assaulted (e.g., punched, kicked or otherwise physically hurt); and/or sexually victimized (e.g., forced to have sex with someone) because of one’s sexual orientation and/or gender presentation.
7. Of the study participants, 90.3 percent were at least 10 years old and 59 percent were 11 years old or younger, making this the youngest sample to date of LGBT youth in a survey.
8. The authors note that because victimization was assessed using an adapted version of the Sexual Victimization Questionnaire (SVQ), the findings are not generalizable to LGBT individuals who experienced CSA outside the home, such as in a child care center or homeless shelter.
9. In addition, the authors acknowledge that because parents provided information about their child’s sexual orientation, the findings are based on self-reported sexual orientation.
10. The authors also point out that while they did not specifically assess school victimization, they used a measure that assessed victimization related to sexual orientation in an inclusive format that captured victimization at school as well as elsewhere.
Social Anxiety Disorder: A Hidden Concern?
Social anxiety is a problem affecting many young people , especially in high school and college. It can take many forms: shyness; reluctance to socialize; a sense of being different from others.
Conclusion: Social anxiety disorder is not known to the general public, although it is very much a recognizable target for therapy. Some people who do know about it would consider it a "fake" problem and that they can manage it. Many others don't know what they are dealing with.
Many more young people are experiencing so-called "social anxiety disorder". The term means a relatively minor problem, but in reality, it has more severe implications than that. By being treated, some of these young people could learn how to manage their condition and build confidence in themselves.
The way many of us think about social interaction has been influenced by many years of exposure to dysfunctional social patterns in our own families and communities.
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Causes Of Social Anxiety