Treatment

Hearing how disabling social anxiety disorder is, you can understand the critical importance of finding an appropriate treatment. Getting help as early as possible can lessen the emotional damage social anxiety disorder causes, stop harmful coping tactics from forming (like alcohol abuse) and prevent the development of other conditions often seen with social anxiety disorder (like depression). The right treatment can free you to pursue the social activities you've always wanted to be involved with and help you feel more comfortable at work and in relationships.

Fortunately, therapies already exist for social anxiety disorder, and there are more on the way. Effective treatments consist of medication, "talk" therapy or a combination of both.

What are some types of "talk" therapy?

Social skills training is a component of "talk" therapy. Not to be confused with "etiquette" (teaching people to act and behave properly), social skills training involves meeting with a professional therapist to discuss and rehearse problematic social situations. Patients are shown how to make eye contact, talk louder and slower, greet people and say good-bye, ask for favors, respond to requests and criticism. They monitor themselves with diaries and practice the new skills with the therapist and then in real life. The hope is that knowing exactly what to say and do in social situations will ease the patient's anxiety.

"With the help of what the doctor called 'CBT' and medication, I started to feel more comfortable in social situations."

What about medications?

Although all of these medications can help social anxiety disorder, certain ones are better for certain people. MAOIs and benzodiazepines may require more monitoring than other medications. b-blockers control only specific symptoms of anxiety, like heart pounding, during performance situations.

Doctors are starting to use SSRIs more often because, for most patients, they have fewer side effects compared to other medications. Although SSRIs are still being studied in social anxiety disorder, they seem to be a very promising treatment.

Working with your doctor

Work with your doctor and follow the program he or she recommends. Use your doctor as a resource-ask questions and ask for information. Take your medication exactly as your doctor prescribes. Always let your doctor know about any side effects you are feeling or if you're unhappy with your therapy, so it can be changed if necessary. Following these tips will help you communicate with your doctor-an important part of any recovery.

"It took a lot of hard work and patience to get through my social anxiety disorder. At times I thought I'd never make it. It's not that I never feel anxiety anymore…but I feel it less and less. And I know how to control the anxiety when it does happen…and how to stop it from preventing me from doing the things I want to do."

REFERENCES
1)	[Stein, p31]
2)	[Stein, p2]
3)	[NIMH Anxiety Disorders booklet, pp12-13]
4)	[Stein, pp2,19,31]
5)	[Stein, pp20-23]