Social Anxiety / Social Phobia: Alone With Witnesses – Part 1
Many people mistakenly think of Social Anxiety as nothing more than shyness. In this two-part series, the OCD Center of Los Angeles discusses Social Anxiety, its treatment with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and its relationship to other OC Spectrum Disorders.
When we initially began treating people with Social Anxiety Disorder (also known as Social Phobia), it seemed that this condition was primarily a problem of interesting people not realizing that they are interesting. While this is a significant element of the disorder, there is more going on than one might initially expect.
In reality, Social Anxiety and Social Phobia are terms used to describe a cluster of symptoms that center around the fear of being negatively evaluated by others. This is often confused with being shy or introverted, or even schizoid. An introvert may genuinely prefer the quiet solitude of turning inwards to the self rather than outwards to other people, while someone with schizoid personality disorder may simply not find the presence of other people to be pleasing. In either of these cases, the experience of isolation from others is essentially rooted in ego-syntonic thoughts, which simply means that the thoughts are consistent with the individual’s true beliefs and values. In other words, those who are truly introverted or schizoid genuinely prefer to be alone.
