Friday, July 11, 2008

Social Anxiety Treatment - Right Option

by Mike

If you suffer from social anxiety, don't worry! It's not a big problem to deal with. You have two way to face the problem. They are medication and psychological counseling.

Indeed, your symptoms (physical and emotional) and how you are performing in your day-to-day life decide the social anxiety treatment.

Counseling is enough if you have occasional social anxiety in a specific situation. For instance, public talking or dining with strangers etc.

Observe whether you are generally anxious about all social encounters, or whether a specific situation triggers your anxiety. This is very important to know to start the treatment.

You can over come your fear of facing a particular situation with exposure therapy. You will learn in the counseling how to work through your physical and emotional distress that may occur during the typical situation. Expose yourself frequently to the situation you fear.

With rehearsing and role-playing, you will become more comfortable in the feared social situation. This is a good social anxiety treatment.

Besides, try to have in-depth knowledge about social anxiety because knowing about the problem provides you great relief. You should also ask for your family members' help in a stressful situation.

You have three types of medications to treat social anxiety disorder. Here they are…

Antidepressants

Antidepressants such as Zoloft, paxil and effexor are wonderful if you have severe social anxiety. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has declared them as good social anxiety treatment.

Benzodiazepines

These will provide you great relief. But since they are habit forming, you'd better restrict them for short term. Ativan, xanax and valium are well known benzodiazepines.

Beta blockers

Beta Blockers work best for a particular situation, such as giving a speech. They reduce your heart pounding, blood pressure and shaking voice and limbs. These are superb for social anxiety treatment.

Now you might have a clear picture about when to choose medication and psychological counseling. You can use the two simultaneously for some time. Then stop taking medicines and follow what you learn at counseling. This will relieve you from social anxiety.

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