Defining Social Anxiety Disorder--for those who don't know

OK I'm just gonna write this like people are actually reading it.

For anyone who doesn't know what Social Anxiety Disorder/Social Phobia actually is, here are the diagnosing criteria from the DSM-IV-TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fourth Edition, Text Revision):

Diagnostic criteria for 300.23 Social Phobia

A. A marked and persistent fear of one or more social or performance situations in which the person is exposed to unfamiliar people or to possible scrutiny by others. The individual fears that he or she will act in a way (or show anxiety symptoms) that will be humiliating or embarrassing.

Note: In children, there must be evidence of the capacity for age-appropriate social relationships with familiar people and the anxiety must occur in peer settings, not just in interactions with adults.

B. Exposure to the feared social situation almost invariably provokes anxiety, which may take the form of a situationally bound or situationally predisposed Panic Attack.

Note: In children, the anxiety may be expressed by crying, tantrums, freezing, or shrinking from social situations with unfamiliar people.

C. The person recognizes that the fear is excessive or unreasonable.

Note: In children, this feature may be absent.

D. The feared social or performance situations are avoided or else are endured with intense anxiety or distress.

E. The avoidance, anxious anticipation, or distress in the feared social or performance situation(s) interferes significantly with the person's normal routine, occupational (academic) functioning, or social activities or relationships, or there is marked distress about having the phobia.

F. In individuals under age 18 years, the duration is at least 6 months.

G. The fear or avoidance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition and is not better accounted for by another mental disorder (e.g., Panic Disorder With or Without Agoraphobia, Separation Anxiety Disorder, Body Dysmorphic Disorder, a Pervasive Developmental Disorder, or Schizoid Personality Disorder).

H. If a general medical condition or another mental disorder is present, the fear in Criterion A is unrelated to it, e.g., the fear is not of Stuttering, trembling in Parkinson's dsease, or exhibiting abnormal eating behavior in Anorexia Nervosa or Bulimia Nervosa.

Specify if: Generalized: if the fears include most social situations (also consider the additional diagnosis of Avoidant Personality Disorder)

Wow that's funny, I just now for the 1st time saw that last part but when I learned about Avoidant Personality Disorder last semester I was like, oh yeah, that is definitely me. Here's the criteria for APD:

Diagnostic criteria for 301.82 Avoidant Personality Disorder

A pervasive pattern of social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, and hypersensitivity to negative evaluation, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by four (or more) of the following:

(1) avoids occupational activities that involve significant interpersonal contact, because of fears of criticism, disapproval, or rejection

(2) is unwilling to get involved with people unless certain of being liked

(3) shows restraint within intimate relationships because of the fear of being shamed or ridiculed

(4) is preoccupied with being criticized or rejected in social situations

(5) is inhibited in new interpersonal situations because of feelings of inadequacy

(6) views self as socially inept, personally unappealing, or inferior to others

(7) is unusually reluctant to take personal risks or to engage in any new activities because they may prove embarrassing

Every single one of those describes me perfectly except #3. Yeah, it sux.

So in case you didn't see, I'm a psych major. I wasn't last semester, I just started at a new school this semester but when I took a couple psych classes at my other school I realized how much I loved it & knew it was what I really wanted to do. So I got my AAS Paralegal degree but am not really planning on doing anything with it now. I've actually been interested in psychology for a long time. I thought about majoring in it before but I didn't think I was smart enough. I've realized that I'm a lot smarter than I used to give myself credit for. Shhh don't tell my mom I said that LoL.

But anyway....if you have SAD (I know, SAD is actually the acronym for Seasonal Affective Disorder but I'm gonna use it for Social Anxiety Disorder anyway) or you know someone who has it but you haven't been diagnosed, you might just be really confused and angry and depressed like I was. You don't wanna go places and deal with people or how you feel around people but you don't understand why and no one else does either and they just get mad at you. When family comes over your mom tells you to "be social". I got that one a lot. I still do. I've never felt like I belonged anywhere, not even in my family. That might come from the APD, I don't know.

I've always known I felt like this, always felt like I was different but I never knew why. Then 1 day, maybe 5 or 6 years ago a friend I had at the time calls me & says there's this article in the paper about this thing called Social Anxiety Disorder & that it sounded exactly like me. She read it to me & it was like ding ding ding ding ding!!! It was such a relief to know that it wasn't just "Kathie being Kathie" there was actually a name for this thing. Of course, that didn't make the symptoms go away but at least I knew if there was a disorder that explained it there must be other people somewhere that were like me. Not that I could ever meet them because we're all afraid of each other LoL. But I actually do know someone with it-my best friend's (fraternal) twin sister.

OK this is getting a little long & I titled it Defining.... so I'll end this one now. Hopefully someone will actually read it & get some help from it.