social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) in the learning process of students

THE FEARS THAT SOCIAL ANXIETY DISORDER THREATEN FOR STUDENTS

The Fears Social Anxiety Disorder Threaten for Students

Marco Antonio Moreno Sánchez

University of Quindío

Reading and Writing II

Armenia, Quindío

May 29th, 2015

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ABSTRACT

The objective of the present study is to analyze and to inform about the impact of one of the

most common social disorders humanity is facing today, and which affects millions of people

worldwide: Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) or Social Phobia. The case of study is if education is

the onset for this disorder. This study is accomplished with the analysis of some students from the

University of Quindío and some local schools to see their opinion about social anxiety. This is

important to notify of this problematic, for in most cases, most of people and professionals ignores

the symptoms it presents and they sometimes tends to relate it with simple shyness. This study was

made with a wide rate of bibliography such as opinion polls, local papers, internet data, students

involved and worried directly with the disorder, and some experts in mental health who have

discussed about social anxiety profoundly.

Key words: social anxiety disorder, social phobia, shyness, depression, learning process,

education, DSM (The Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders), APA (American

Psychological Association, Mental Health.

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INTRODUCTION

This investigation on Social Anxiety Disorder commonly labeled social phobia, as the

principal factor in the deficiency of learning process and/or social skills in students from the

University of Quindío and some local schools in Armenia city, is a profound revision and study to

show facts and provide knowledge of people with the disorder in order to avoid harmful

impairments in their student’s academic performance and other concepts and aspects associated to

loss of social abilities. Social anxiety or social phobia has affected the normal course of social life

from several students in and the university and the city which, attacks specifically teenagers and

children, regarding to the weakening in social abilities. This research argues social anxiety as the

main aspect to produce impairments in both social communication and the learning process of

students. First of all, there are historical and contextual background which explains and

consolidate social anxiety (SAD) as a disorder in both past and present contexts. Then, it is

explained why this disorder is the specific factor to weaken the education area of a person.

Secondly, in the study were found: definitions and names that classified the disorder during past

years and which differentiated it from other types of anxiety disorder (phobias), the origin of the

disorder, the effects of the condition, statistics and documents; it was also found that social anxiety

disorder is sometimes related to simple shyness due to lack of knowledge of the topic and little

care to it. Similarly, it studies the statistics that place the disorder as the third most common in

Colombia. Colombian People with this condition stresses a dramatic view in which people have

become the point of not making sense of life. Finally, there is personal experiences and a final

conclusion of the study.

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The Fears That Social Anxiety Disorder Threaten For Students

Social anxiety disorder, “also called”1 social phobia is one of the third most common mental

and health disorders in Colombia after depression and substances abuse. Some statistics show that

this Anxiety Disorder affects millions of people worldwide and about 12% of the population

across the lifetime suffer from Social Anxiety Disorder. Social Anxiety Disorder is not a recent

problem. In the past, the notion of social anxiety dates back to the early part of the 20th century

based on a notion that Hippocrates2 used to describe a shy person, he stated that a shy person is

someone who " loves darkness as life and thinks every man observes him (...)" Thus, the concept

of shyness was defined not as normal personality characteristic, but how people who are painfully

shy has impaired their social skills.

During the early and late 20th century, psychiatrists began to use terms such as social phobia

and social neurosis to refer to extremely shy patients and to differentiate patients from other

phobias, such as in the case of the British psychiatrist Isaac Marks who proposed that social

phobias should be considered a distinct category separate from other simple phobias. Likewise,

there are numerous definitions given in social psychiatry, but most of them comes to similar

notions about what Social Anxiety Disorder is, a current and general definition for this disorder is

given by The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fifth edition (DSM-V) that

describes Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) as an intense, and persistent fear of being scrutinized or

negatively evaluated by others to the point that social abilities are impaired.

In the same way, there were earlier definitions for the disorder in the (DSM) editions. The

second edition (DSM-II), the term social fear was described as a specific phobia in social

situations or an excessive fear of being dissected by others. Subsequently, the term social phobia

1 Although the DSM-5 updates the term social anxiety disorder as the primary designation for social phobia (the phrase in parentheses, as to indicate “formerly known as …”), it is chosen to keep the traditional label. The justification for this is theoretical. There are serious conceptual as well as empirical grounds for doubting that social phobia is a “disorder of anxiety”, let alone the consequence of “abnormal anxiety”.2 Hippocrates, Greek philosopher; 400.B.C.

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was included in the third edition (DSM-III), as an official psychiatric diagnosis. In such edition,

social phobia was described as a fear of performance situations, and did not include fears of less

formal situations like casual conversations. People with such broad fears were more likely to be

diagnosed with avoidant personality disorder which is a different form of SAD.

At this point in history, the definition of social phobia was very constricted (Cuncic, 2013),

for a person with Social Anxiety Disorder that needs immediate help to treat the disorder could

also be considered as a normal condition which leads to an irreparable impairment in the building

of social skills. Hence, The DSM-IV in its newest edition replaces the term social phobia for

Social Anxiety Disorder. This new term is used to refer to how broad and generalized fears are in

the disorder. In this version, the disorder was defined as a "marked and persistent fear of one or

more social or performance situations in which a person is possible scrutinized by others.” 3

In some cases, the disorder is associated with a simple shyness, but Shyness4 is classified as

a normal characteristic of personality, and a characteristic of people who have low self-esteem. In

fact, stronger forms of shyness are usually referred as social anxiety. The problem is if shyness

persists along life expectancy which will be considered as a type of Anxiety Disorder. Explicitly,

social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized as a psychiatric condition. This Anxiety Disorder

usually begins in childhood or adolescence. Yet, there is a small subgroup of people who develop

the condition in later life.

Throughout years, social Anxiety has affected the social life of people worldwide. The

concern is Social Anxiety Disorder or also called Social Phobia inhibits the development of social

abilities. The issue that is tried along with this hidden disorder is if social anxiety has negative

effects in education and how much this condition goes beyond simple shyness in several aspects

3 The Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fourth edition (DSM-IV) published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) covers all mental health disorders for both children and adults.4 APA –American Psychiatric Association defines Shyness as the tendency to feel awkward, worried or tense during social encounters, especially with unfamiliar people. Severely shy people may have physical symptoms, negative feelings about themselves or worries about how others view them from social interactions.

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such as behavioral, emotional and physical in some students from the university of Quindío and

some local schools, and to evaluate the rate of Social Phobia of young students who result in one

of the vulnerable population in to suffer from SAD. Typically, social anxiety disorder starts in

childhood or adolescence, but the disorder is difficult to detect. Thus, it is important to remark

upon how Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) affects the social performance, the learning process and

features of behavior in both college and school students, which cause an impairment of social

skills5.

Social Anxiety Disorder, (SAD) affects the social performance of students. In most cases,

Public speaking may be the “Bête Noire” 6 for some people who try to avoid it in any situation.

For some students affected by social anxiety being enclosed in the focus of attention by classmates

or in presentations is sufficient to make them skip classes. A new article in the (UWE) Bristol 7

looked at the impact of social anxiety in higher education and schools, and Psychologist Phil

Topham estimated that “10% of university students experience significant social anxiety.” For

instance, (Juster, Heimberg, and Holt, 1996) argued that “in their clinic most social phobic

persons were found to have adequate social skills but are inhibited when it comes to applying their

skills in social situations, and students procrastinate as a reason to be saved from exposed talking.

In other words, procrastination avoids that social situations challenge students. Additionally, some

students from the University of Quindío has stated that Social Anxiety Disorder does not allow

them to get engaged in social situations and make them feel shameful during talks. People with

this disorder are always thinking negatively about themselves and remaining away from people in

order to abstain speech. To illustrate, when a student has to give a presentation in front of his/her

classmates, he/she feels uncomfortable, it occurs mainly if the group does not help or they are not

informed about the disorder and as a result they respond with derision and ridicule phobic

students. This condition is extremely frightful that you get apprehensive just thinking about people

5 “Social-skills are sets of behaviors or characteristics learnt by interacting with others and therefore, palpably recognizable.6 An idiomatical expression often used in English language, it has its origins in the French language that translate literally into English as -“Black-Beast”- but actually means -a person or thing that particularly annoys you and make you feel uncomfortable.7 Research from the University of Plymouth and University of the West of England (UWE) Bristol. Topham, P. and Russell, G. (2012) Social anxiety in higher education. The Psychologist, 25 (4). pp. 280-282.

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or feeling these situations. In brief, the impact of SAD in higher education and schools is a total

impairment of social skills that constrains a student to be unable to respond in social environments

with safety and properly.

Another point in the study proves that Social Anxiety, (SAD) affects the learning process of

college and school students. Although anxiety is accepted as part of the learning process8, the

impact that social anxiety has on it, is not very evident. Some authors states that social

performance situations are frequently encountered by students in higher education in presentations,

seminars, group projects, etc. But socially phobic students are inhibited to participate actively and

the quality of student life is lessened. To support, in the cognitive model of social anxiety (Clark

& Wells, 1995)9, when a student has to face social situations certain beliefs and assumptions like

being over-critical of their social performance and anxious about negative estimation on future

actions are quite irreversible in quality. For example, socially phobic students usually ask

themselves: ‘If I don’t give the right answer I’ll fail’ or ‘People can’t see anything to like about

me’, etc., these beliefs are originated in earlier life experiences that have oriented the person to

perceive certain situations as a threat to self-esteem. The resulting anxiety inhibits participation in

class and reinforces views about personal insufficiency. In addition, selected students from the

modern languages program in the University of Quindío indicated that during their process of

learning English they frequently have to be immersed in presentations and debates to demonstrate

their ability in the language, and the response to those situations are persistent and unreasonable

fears to be able to defend them properly, and finally those social skills of students are weakened.

In short, the learning process of students is affected and destabilized by the impairment of social

skills, and students are unable to speak in performance situations in school or college, which is

evident when a student responds with low-esteem.

8 National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), what are anxiety disorders? (2015) http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders/index.shtml 9 Clark, D and Wells, A. “Social Phobia: Diagnosis, Assessment, and Treatment,” (1995). Chapter four.

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http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders/index.shtml


Other concern is that social anxiety disorder affects some features of behavior.

Acknowledgement social anxiety disorder in children and teenagers by specialists is often

problematic. In part, it is from (GP’s)10 for not recognizing the disorder and a lack of

understanding the complexity of it. In schools and universities, the recognition for students with

social anxiety disorder is a worry; children with social anxiety disorder may be likely to be the

target of bullying and ridicule. Teachers and educational professionals has limited knowledge of

how to recognize and supervise the management of the disorder. Despite of the extent of

impairment, only about 36% of people with the disorder ever look for treatment, but those who

look for treatments are those who has lived longer the disorder. The delay in seeking help for the

condition is due to individuals who associate social anxiety disorder as nothing serious or as part

of personality. Specifically, a socially anxious person who is exposed to the fears of social

situations can invariably presents depression and anxiety, both interferes severely with daily

habits, occupational performance or social life making it difficult to complete school, get a job,

and have friendships. Simultaneously, when a person cannot handle social situations anymore then

social anxiety disorder is distressed with depression11 in which he/she would feel discouraged,

miserable, or unmotivated in life. Depression affects the way a person thinks, feels, and behaves.

However, social anxiety and depression are different conditions, but people with depression often

experience symptoms similar to those of an anxiety disorder. Most people who develop depression

have a history of an anxiety disorder earlier in life. There is not prove one disorder interferes with

the other, but there is evidence that most people suffer from both disorders. Summing up, social

anxiety disorder presents rates of depression which affects the personality of a student such as in

emotional, behavioral and physical aspects which limits the social life of a person.

Some social psychoanalysts advocate that Social Anxiety Disorder is a normal and adaptive

characteristics, as it is often normal to feel anxious in social situations. For instance, most people

feel anxious when they have to speak in front of a large group, for it aids us to prepare for danger,

the body starts preparing to reply specific situations of anxieties. Therefore, the advocates

recommend as the main purpose to learn to manage anxiety, not eliminate it. In addition, it is

10 General Practitioners according to The British Psychological Society and the Royal College of Psychiatrists. (2005)11 Barbee, J. G. (1998). Mixed symptoms and syndromes of anxiety and depression: Diagnostic, prognostic, and etiologic issues. Annals of Clinical Psychiatry, 10:15–29.

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important to note that Social anxiety is one of the most common anxiety disorders in the country.

The good news is that there are strategies you can use to help manage your social fears. Though,

social anxiety can become a problem when our body tells us that there is danger when there is no

real danger. It means that children with the disorder perceived unreasonable fears in simple

situations like in casual conversations. According to the child psychologist Margarita Ariza Diaz,

from the University of Manizales explained that children who are shy are not abnormal as it is

alleged. Conversely, they become highly sensitive. She also agreed that the condition is an innate

trait of personality which affects almost 20% of children. Children who are highly sensitive are

more vulnerable to be injured in external and internal factors, such as social and emotional factors.

This higher sensibility is due to the tendency to be more concentrated on processing information

more profoundly. They have a greater ability to detail subtly in their environment and process it. A

difference concerning features like introversion or neuroticism in children is when a child pays

attention to the processing of subtle information and they are affected for the environment. On the

other hand, there is clear evidence that social anxiety disorder has nothing to do with an adaptive

characteristic of personality, if it does that way, children with the disorder would not be vulnerable

to be weakened in their social abilities and tormented by the condition. As Topham, P. and

Russell, G. (2012) stated, socially anxious scholars neglect on learning opportunities by evading

interaction, physically or psychologically. Attention to academic information may be distracted by

an excessive focus on anxieties. In brief, social anxiety is not a normal characteristic as shyness,

for it causes damaging impairment in social and learning skills. Although, there is advocates who

state the contrary.

Another advocate say there is no evidence that social anxiety disorder impacts education.

Social anxiety disorder does not receive much attention in universities and colleges, for it is not

easy to identify the disorder and is wrongly attributed to shyness, viewed as a personality attribute

rather than a problem. And it is not obviously distressing. Andersen (2006) described how

advanced students appeared confident and socially skilful in daily routine encounters, but their

anxieties in learning situations were hidden until asked to present their work to tutors. There is an

implicit belief in the academic community that anxiety is inherent to the process of learning,

whereby overcoming academic challenges builds confidence and fears of social evaluation.

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Concern has been expressed that over-focusing on anxiety and other emotions, threats turns

education into a therapeutic activity that reduces rather than improves the learner’s sense of

identity (Ecclestone, 2005). Social anxiety may be improperly identified with pathology rather

than maturation and, for example, (Stewart and Mandrusiak (2007) found no important change in

levels of self-reported social anxiety between college student therapy and scholar students.

Although, social anxiety disorder is considered as a hidden condition, there is clear evidence of its

influence in the learning process of students, as many authors and experts in mental health has

stated. To recapitulate, the cognitive model of social anxiety (Clark & Wells, 1995), stated that a

student with social anxiety disorder is over critical in his/her thinking. Hence, it restrict students

being able to react properly in collective situations and cause a weakening to the student academic

performance. In short, the existence of evidences that support social anxiety disorder as a

problematic in education are incomplete, but in surveyed students and some analyzed cases of

socially phobic people is showed that the disorder has negative effects as much in the conduct as

in emotional aspects of personality. Although, specialists needs should provide confidence to

sufferers in order to detect the disorder on time.

On the whole, it is already noticed how social anxiety disorder affects social performance,

learning process and certain parts of the behavior. Concerning social anxiety in social performance

and learning process, students and individuals present an impairment and inhibition in social skills

as in school as in public settings. Likewise, some aspects of behavior are also negatively altered,

which immerse a socially anxious person to present rates of depression and other types of anxiety.

Nonetheless, there is advocates who say social anxiety disorder is a hidden problem and most

specialists find it difficult to treat. The disagreement stands for specialists in mental health who are

not aware to provide safety to those anxious individuals.

In the article, “What is it Like to Live with Social Anxiety,” by the licensed psychologist and

director of The Social Anxiety Institute. The Social Anxiety Institute is a non-profit association in

north Phoenix, Arizona, USA, founded by its director, Dr. Richards and some co-workers in 2001.

He created his institute, for in his early years when he suffered from social anxiety there was not

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treatments and specialists to treat the phobia, that was the reason he decided to found the social

anxiety institute to help socially phobic persons to repair social impairments. In this article, he

states that people with social anxiety disorder are immersed in social fears, and he describes how

people with anxiety disorder perceive publics. He also explains the cognitive-behavioral treatment

therapy, which, he with some co-workers, labor in for treating symptoms caused to socially phobic

patients. Dr. Richards says social anxiety disorder is a permanent fear which persists along life

expectancy (as I argued above), but there is a therapy to treat it. I am in agreement with Dr.

Richards’ idea that social anxiety disorder involves fears in social situations which make a person

to think negatively. As well, he relates social anxiety disorder with social phobia as in the DSM-V.

Thomas Richards says that all days, life involves fears, avoidance and pain about what you

say wrongly in social settings. In my childhood, I lived some experiences with social anxiety

disorder which involved persistent fears, thus, I agree with Mr. Richard that social disorder

involves social and avoidance fears. The authors add it is a chronic-trouble of living with this

mental condition: social anxiety disorder; and which few people comprehend the complexities of

the anxiety. People with it try to hide from others and from family to the point they view those

people differently. The fears of these happenings make sufferers to stay tormented. He

generalized the disorder: Social anxiety disorder (social phobia) is the “third largest psychological

problem in the United States and in the world” today. Millions of people quietly endure this pain

every day, believing there is no hope for them getting better. In child’s times I spent most of them

in my room, I rarely go out to play with my younger brother and friends. Sometimes, I was invited

to practice sports with my brother and friends, but the fears Mr. Richards’ talks in the article, were

as impertinent as to face social settings, I passed almost all my childhood away from people.

Briefly, social fears in social settings could be treatable, but the symptoms are impossible to

control according to Mr. Richards.

In the article, Mr. Richards expresses how is like to have social anxiety. He exemplified

parts of his article with feelings of people with Generalized Anxiety Disorder to explain that most

of socially phobic persons excuse themselves to avoid social situations. He shows that both men

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and women may find difficult to stand out and perform in public speaking, such as the woman who

enters to the supermarket and see everyone that look at her. Richards declares that people with

social anxiety disorder try to analyze social situations profoundly to see if they did or will do

wrong. Such as in casual conversations or at the phone. One of the most important things in the

article is when it says that people must not confuse social anxiety with simple shyness. I agree

with his idea because public speaking is hard to manage in a person with social anxiety, they are

always feeling judged and tormented by its symptoms and shyness is not a tormented condition.

Moreover, Mr. Richards starts one of the paragraphs with a question: “How is it ever

possible to feel "comfortable" or "natural" under these circumstances?” this is impossible to feel

comfortable, but with this, the author tries to explain that persons with social anxiety knows their

anxiety will apart them from society in a tormenting ways. For example in an interview, says

Richards, a person will look funny, will be uncertain, and will be incompetent to find the right

words to answer all the questions. This is a sample that Mr. Richards express to warn people about

the consequences of living with the disorder as he experienced them in his early life.

Another idea, Mr. Richards states that social anxiety disorder affects 15 million Americans

per year. Social anxiety is not just common in the USA, it is a worldwide culturally inclusive

condition. Whereas other conditions, social anxiety is unknown by majority of people or by

medical health care experts. However, he claims that most of people with social anxiety are

misdiagnosed 90% of the time. He says people who comes to his institute with diagnosable DSM-

IV social anxiety people were misdiagnosed with “schizophrenic” syndrome, “maniac depressive”,

“panic disordered”, “personality disordered and other misdiagnosis cause they have never searched

for an expert for thinking they are the only ones in the word with those terrible symptoms. I

support the idea of Mr. Richards as most of people are aware of the disorder and think this is

condition is inherited to just themselves, how (cuncic 2013) says, people with SAD tends to see

socially anxiety as a normal condition and allows their social skills to be impair negatively.

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The author makes a point that social anxiety is a persistent disorder throughout years and its

consequences remain for the rest of life. And that’s more, if people continues their lacking of

knowledge and treatment, and some kind of education, social anxiety disorder continues to cause

chaos during their lifetime. He adds to this that a person with the problem decides to seek for help,

the chances they can find it to be saved are narrow. This is because social anxiety does not go as

most of psychological and physical problems. Through this the author explains if you have social

anxiety disorder one day, it is for the rest of your life cycle. Mr. Richards describes for those

socially phobic people at the opening of the article the feelings for a person with “generalized

anxiety disorder,” and he agree those symptoms apply to almost most social events and function

similarly in each are in life. He assumed he suffered from social anxiety for 20 years before

looking for the term y/or help. I am in disagreement with Mr. Richards, for him to be an expert in

social anxiety, I found that treating social anxiety disorder is a long process that requires more

dedication than time, and I found this information in the National Institute of Mental Health

Disorder which says social anxiety symptoms may persist after treatment and life but it depends on

the person if he/she is really affected by this and feel the necessity to look for help.

Another fact discussed by Mr. Richards is social anxiety disorder has different symptoms as

all problems, some people cannot write in public because they fear are staring at them and their

hand will shake. Others feel self-conscious and find it difficult to hold down a job. One thing all

socially anxious people share is the knowledge their thoughts and fears are irrational, but don't

know how to think and believe rationally. The authors argues, people with social anxiety know

that others are not judging or evaluating them all the time.

Finally, he presents how to treat social anxiety with his cognitive behavioral therapy. Social

anxiety is not only treatable, but this treatment is successful. Social anxiety no longer needs to be a

life-long, devastating condition. It is these thoughts that occur in social situations that must be met

and conquered in therapy. He assumes that cognitive-behavioral techniques have shown to work

the best among all therapeutic methods to treat the disorder. The treatment of social anxiety with

the cognitive behavioral methods produces long-lasting and permanent relief to cure the disorder.

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Shortly, agreeing with Mr. Richards, cognitive behavioral therapy includes a mindfulness

method to overcoming the disorder, and it includes an acceptance of things as socially phobic

patients continue to get better. A last thing to mention about the article is, what socially-anxious

people do not need is time of sitting around complaining about problems. Hence, socially anxious

people who are taught to "analyze" and "ruminate" over their problems make their social anxiety

worse. Here, the author tells that without treatment, social anxiety is a traumatic emotional

problem. With effective treatment, Mr. Richards adds to this that cognitive-behavioral therapy, is

highly successful in the treatment of social anxiety for a person to live a better life. However,

people who are not effective in the therapy, are those who are not persistent with the therapy and

give up. Richards says that the only thing a person needs to be effective in the therapy is

motivation to lessen this type of anxiety.

In my point of view, where I live, most of my friends and acquaintances usually label me

like "The non-violent guy," and most just says that I do not talk so much with people because I am

ignoring society and hiding form social situations. But I do not assure to have social anxiety

disorder. However, I sometimes experience impertinent fears and avoidance of public speaking or

conversations, those fears may be explained by sweating, thinking profoundly about what I have to

do. Social anxiety seems to be my condition, but the fact is that I feel comfortable in some social

settings and can talk with people if they convince me with their confidence. My problematic is a

simple shyness which has become a nightmare for practically my entire life. In my early years I

always asked myself about my problems and difficulties to get friends, but people around judged

me. During my years of existence I have never heard for treatments and seen specialists who may

help to control this disorder such as Dr. Richards lived with it, and finally he found treatments. In

my family relations, I was the child who always had to do favors for the reason I was quiet and

kind, but in other activities like public speaking I was never paid attention. My brothers had to that

for the fact he was active and intelligent to act than me; those thoughts and differences from my

family members toward my persona, made me thought that life has not sense. Being shy is not to

be stupid, what happened in my life was that I analyzed every corner, every place to be sure that I

will not go to say something wrong or unwise which may expose myself to ridicule. Hence, I have

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had to bear with some symptoms of this disorder, not only in school but part in university and my

social surroundings.

In my school, my life was a complete chaos to handle social situations. When I entered I was

unable to introduce to other students that is why it was hard for me to go to school, and it forced

me to hardly face social it because I passed through shame and ridicule. I avoided social situations

in all forms, both public, conversations and academically. I felt frustrated for the lack of

information my family and I had about the cause and problem of my conduct, some doctors told

me that it was normal to feel anxious in any time, but their arguments about this was not enough to

me. I was sometimes diagnosed with simple shyness, every person around me said the problem

rooted in it. My mother was always cooking and setting tables for farmers and other workers in the

country, so my problematic with this simple shyness was progressively growing, but I do not

present all the symptoms of the disorder.

Following the time I had the opportunity to study at the university, it arose the voice of people

around me. My family and relatives were worried about the fact universities shocked newbies

students and more if someone presents signs of shyness, but several months I entered to university,

I searched for help about this, and when I asked if my behavior was to present a disorder; some

psychologists in my town explained me that a disorder causes total impairments in social skills.

However, my case did not present a history of impairments. I was and am able to defend in social

situations, for my problem is shyness and not a disorder. I understood my shyness when, in the

university, I attended a storytelling course which make me realize how able I was to stand on stage

with some fears and anxiety, but prudent to perform on stage. My process in this course was not a

simple; my teacher taught some skills and tools to use with an audience. Although, the first time I

had to present and tell stories with a public I avoided those by hiding among people. Then, my

teacher stands on stage and introduce to all the audience like this: “now, we have a person who has

a set of stories to tell all of you, so I want you to welcome him.” It was for me really shameful as I

was forced to face public speaking, and my presence in the group was full of blameless

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experiences to tell how a shy guy who was isolated from society for so long was able to overcome

his own fears in a story group (this is me).

Finally, when I was forced to speak in audiences, it helped to forget shyness and fears.

Otherwise I know that people with social anxiety are unable to forget their worries. Now most of

people I know in the university can realize how I have changed in my way to behave and my

personality, I am more sociable than before, but sometimes I feel anxious in some situations such

as giving an oral presentation in front of a group. And so, I am completely sure that I will

overcome these others fears very soon as I did with my performance on stage. Feel fears and

anxiety is normal in some occasions because I was taught our body is made of neurons and those

neurons has to send messages when we face situations of danger or when our mind is not totally

complete to provide information stored. I mean, our mind knows warns when something is going

wrong.

In brief, I have not experience social anxiety in my life, but I know that pertinent and

unreasonable fears have drowned my mind every moment I have had to face social situations but

the good news is that I already know how to control myself. All has to do with the control of my

own body: when it shrieks, when it gets cold, in such cases I just follow a rule to control breathing,

and it works perfectly to manage fears without panic ourselves. It makes fears disappear little by

little. In addition, I started to search for the Social Anxiety Disorder Page12 and its therapy

proposes by the psychologist Mr. Richards and available online which I have found out relevant

information to treat my fears. I just subscribed to receive audio-videos sessions and the treatment

was to work perfectly on myself, this was only patience and motivation that I reached enormous

benefits to socialize and forget my fears.

12 Social Anxiety Institute official webpage for information and therapies: https://socialanxietyinstitute.org/

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https://socialanxietyinstitute.org/


CONCLUSION

Social Anxiety or social phobia is a type of personality disorder that has been defined and

related from different ways in the past and in the present, and which does not have great

importance in the University and in the city of Armenia. The study showed that social anxiety is

usually linked with social phobia for the reason both concepts share similar characteristics and

symptoms, and plays a devastating role in the learning process and social performance of students

because it cause an impairment in social skills, which is the cause for some students not being able

to perform in school and/or university. In the study was found that the disorder is new for Armenia

population as there is no known antibiotics or treatments in the city to treat the disorder. Most of

psychologists have tried to talk about this problematic but most of them finishes talking about

shyness as a related term for SAD. People do not feel worry to go beyond a simple shyness, they

just think it is a way of living. International Mental Health organizations have shown their

concerns about the problematic because they do not count with all the methods and conditions to

offer a good service to the population. Equally, there exists a wide deficiency of information

among people. The opinions that people has about depression are narrow, but in the surveys most

of the students states that they know differentiate the disorder from other phobias, expertise

sustains an opposing idea. In a message for the entire population in Armenia, teachers and

professors should inform students about the problematic and the disorder to stimulate individuals

with the disorder for looking for help and avoiding devastating effects in later years. This topic

turns fascinating, for it is taking advantage over people personalities to be considered the third

most common mental health disorders after depression and substances abuse, and there is that

people are doing nothing to stop it.

17


BIBLIOGRAPHY

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3. American Psychiatric Association. (1999). “Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 4th ed.” Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association, 1994:411–7.

4. Gelernter CS, Uhde TW, Cimbolic P, Arnkoff DB, Vittone BJ, Tancer ME. (1991). “Cognitive-behavioral and pharmacological treatments of social phobia.” Arch Gen Psychiatry; 48:938–45.

5. Bruce, T. (1999). “Social Anxiety Disorder: A Common, Under-recognized Mental Disorder.” Retrieved May, 2015, from http://www.aafp.org/afp/1999/1115/p2311.htmlna fuente en el documento actual.

6. Tartakovsky, M. “The Origins of Anxiety.” Retrieved from: http://www.minddisorders.com/Py-Z/Social-phobia.html

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8. Hurtado Domínguez, Y. (2011, May 6th). “La timidez en niños menores de dos años hace parte del desarrollo.” La Crónica del Quindío, Spanish. Retrieved from: http://www.cronicadelquindio.com/noticia-completa-titulo-la_timidez_en_nios_menores_de_dos_aos_hace_parte_del_desarrollo-seccion-la_general-nota-29491

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http://www.cronicadelquindio.com/noticia-completa-titulo-la_timidez_en_nios_menores_de_dos_aos_hace_parte_del_desarrollo-seccion-la_general-nota-29491



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http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/social-anxiety-disorder/basics/risk-factors/con-20032524

http://socialanxietydisorder.about.com/od/overviewofsad/a/history.htm


9. Weaver, R. (2012). “Social Anxiety Can Be a Hidden Problem in College.” Goodtherapy.org. Retrieved from: http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/social-anxiety-college-students-0717126

10. Smith, M and Jaffe-Gill, (2015). “Social Anxiety Disorder and Social Phobia: Symptoms, Self-Help, and Treatment.” Retrieved from: http://www.helpguide.org/articles/anxiety/social-anxiety-disorder-and-social-phobia.htm

11. National Institute of Mental Health, “What is Social Phobia (Social Anxiety Disorder).” Retrieved from: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/social-phobia-social-anxiety-disorder/index.shtml

12. “Social Anxiety Disorder: Children and Education: comments in diagnosis, treatment.” Retrieved from: http://www.socialanxietydisorder.net/treatment/social-anxiety-disorder-children-and-education.html

13. Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia. “Definition of Shyness.” retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shyness

14. Lydiard, B. (2012). “When Does Shyness Become a Disorder.” Psychiatric Times. Retrieved from: http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/articles/when-does-shyness-become-disorder#sthash.NF8aHr6K.dpuf

15. Ariza Díaz, M. (March, 2011). “Las niños tímidos procesan el mundo de un modo diferente.” La Cronica del Quindío. Spanish. Retrieved from: http://www.cronicadelquindio.com/noticia-completa-titulo-las_ninos_timidos_procesan_el_mundo_de_un_modo_diferente-seccion-general-nota-27021.htm

16. Rodebaugh, T. (2009). “Social phobia and perceived friendship quality.” Department of Psychology, Washington University. (Pp. 1, 2)

17. Skocic, S. Jackson, H. & Hulbert, C. (2014). “Beyond DSM-5: An alternative approach to assessing Social AnxietyDisorder.” University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.

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http://www.cronicadelquindio.com/noticia-completa-titulo-las_ninos_timidos_procesan_el_mundo_de_un_modo_diferente-seccion-general-nota-27021.htm



http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/articles/when-does-shyness-become-disorder#sthash.NF8aHr6K.dpuf

http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/articles/when-does-shyness-become-disorder#sthash.NF8aHr6K.dpuf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shyness

http://www.socialanxietydisorder.net/treatment/social-anxiety-disorder-children-and-education.html

http://www.socialanxietydisorder.net/treatment/social-anxiety-disorder-children-and-education.html

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/social-phobia-social-anxiety-disorder/index.shtml

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/social-phobia-social-anxiety-disorder/index.shtml

http://www.helpguide.org/articles/anxiety/social-anxiety-disorder-and-social-phobia.htm

http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/social-anxiety-college-students-0717126

http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/social-anxiety-college-students-0717126


18. Cowden, P. (n.d). “Communication and conflict: anxiety and learning.” Niagara University.

19. Juster, Heimberg, and Holt. (1996). “Treatment of Social Phobia: Potential Mediators and Moderators.” US National Library of Medicine: National Institute of Health.

20. Topham, P. and Russell, G. (2012). “Social anxiety in higher education.” Research from the University of Plymouth and University of the West of England (UWE) Bristol. The British Psychological Society, 25 (4). pp. 280-282. Vol 5, edition 4.

21. Clark & Wells. (1995). “A Cognitive Perspective on Social Phobia. » International Handbook of Social Anxiety: Concepts, Research and Interventions Relating to the Self and Shyness.

22. Stuart847, Youtube.com channel. (May2011). “Social Anxiety Documentary: Afraid of People.” Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmEJEfy5f50

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmEJEfy5f50


APPENDIX 1 – Article

What is it Like to Live with Social Anxiety?

By Thomas A. Richards, Ph.D.

Psychologist/Director, Social Anxiety Institute

All day, every day, life is like this. Fear. Apprehension. Avoidance. Pain. Anxiety about

what you said. Fear that you said something wrong. Worry about others' disapproval. Afraid of

rejection, of not fitting in. Anxious to enter a conversation, afraid you'll have nothing to talk

about. Hiding what's wrong with you deep inside, putting up a defensive wall to protect your

"secret". You are undergoing the daily, chronic trouble of living with this mental disorder we call

social anxiety disorder.

Very few people understand the agonizing and traumatic depth of social anxiety disorder.

Social anxiety makes people go inside themselves and try to "protect" this secret. Most people

with social anxiety disorder try to hide it from others, especially from family and loved ones.

There is fear that family members may find out they suffer from social anxiety, and then view

them differently or outright reject them. This is almost never true, but the fear of this happening

makes many people with social anxiety stay in their dark closet.

Social anxiety disorder (social phobia) is the third largest psychological problem in the

United States today. Millions of people quietly endure this pain every day, believing there is no

hope for them getting better.

What is social anxiety like?

A man finds it difficult to walk down the street because he’s self-conscious and feels that

people are watching him from their windows. Worse, he may run into a person on the sidewalk

and be forced to say hello to them. He’s not sure he can do that. His voice will catch, his "hello"

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will sound weak, and the other person will know he’s frightened. More than anything else, he

doesn’t want anyone to know that he’s afraid. He keeps his eyes safely away from anyone else’s

gaze and prays he can make it home without having to talk to anyone.

A woman hates to stand in line in the grocery store because she’s afraid that everyone is

watching her. She knows that it’s not really true, but she can’t shake the feeling. While she is

shopping, she is conscious of the fact that people might be staring at her from the big mirrors on

the inside front of the ceiling. Now, she has to talk to the person who’s checking out the

groceries. She tries to smile, but her voice comes out weakly. She’s sure she’s making a fool of

herself. Her self-consciousness and her anxiety rise to the roof.

Another person sits in front of the telephone and agonizes because she’s afraid to pick up

the receiver and make a call. She’s even afraid to call an unknown person in a business office

about the electric bill because she’s afraid she’ll be "putting someone out" and they will be upset

with her. It’s very hard for her to take rejection, even over the phone, even from someone she

doesn’t know. She’s especially afraid to call people she knows because she feels that she’ll be

calling at the wrong time -- the other person will be busy — and they won’t want to talk with her.

She feels rejected even before she makes the call. Once the call is made and over, she sits,

analyzes, and ruminates about what was said, what tone it was said in, and how she was

perceived by the other person....her anxiety and racing thoughts concerning the call prove to her

that she "goofed" this conversation up, too, just like she always does. Sometimes she gets

embarrassed just thinking about the call.

"I would freeze up every time I had to meet someone in authority...."

A man hates to go to work because a meeting is scheduled the next day. He knows that

these meetings always involve co-workers talking with each other about their current projects.

Just the thought of speaking in front of co-workers raises his anxiety. Sometimes he can’t sleep

the night before because of the anticipatory anxiety that builds up.

Finally, the meeting is over. A big wave of relief spills over him as he begins to relax. But the

memory of the meeting is still uppermost in his mind. He is convinced he made a fool of himself

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and that everyone in the room saw how afraid he was when he spoke and how stupid he acted in

their presence. At next week’s meeting, the boss is going to be there. Even though this meeting is

seven days away, his stomach turns raw with anxiety and the fear floods over him again. He

knows that in front of the boss he’ll stammer, hesitate, his face will turn red, he won’t remember

what to say, and everyone will witness his embarrassment and humiliation.

He has seven miserable days of anxiety ahead of him, to think about it, ruminate over it,

worry about it, and over exaggerate it in his mind...over and over again.

A student won’t attend her university classes on the first day because she knows that in

some classes the professor will instruct them to go around the room and introduce themselves.

Just thinking about sitting there, waiting to introduce herself to a room full of strangers who will

be staring at her makes her feel nauseous. She knows she won’t be able to think clearly because

her anxiety will be so high, and she is sure she will leave out important details. Her voice might

even quaver and she would sound scared and tentative. The anxiety is just too much to bear -- so

she skips the first day of class to avoid the possibility of having to introduce herself in public.

"I’m the only one in the world who has these horrible symptoms...."

Another young man wants to go to parties and other social events -- indeed, he is very, very

lonely -- but he never goes anywhere because he’s very nervous about meeting new people. Too

many people will be there and crowds only make things worse for him. The thought of meeting

new people scares him -- will he know what to say? Will they stare at him and make him feel

even more insignificant? Will they reject him outright? Even if they seem nice, they’re sure to

notice his frozen look and his inability to fully smile. They’ll sense his discomfort and tenseness

and they won’t like him – there’s just no way to win.-

"I’m always going to be an outcast," he says. And he spends the night alone, at home,

watching television again. He feels comfortable at home. In fact, home is the only place he does

feel comfortable. He hasn’t gone anywhere in twelve years. He has no network of support to

help him overcome these horrible symptoms.

"It’s just easier to avoid social situations."

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In public places, such as work, meetings, or shopping, people with social anxiety feel that

everyone is watching and staring at them (even though rationally they know this isn’t true). The

socially anxious person can’t relax, "take it easy", and enjoy themselves in public. In fact, they can

never relax when other people are around. It always feels like others are evaluating them, being

critical of them, or "judging" them in some way. The person with social anxiety knows that

people don’t do this openly, of course, but they still feel the self-consciousness and the judgment

while they are in the other person’s presence. It’s sometimes impossible to let go, relax, and

focus on anything else except the anxiety. Because the anxiety is so very painful, it’s much easier

just to stay away from social situations and avoid other people.

"More than anything, he doesn’t want anyone to know he’s afraid...."

Many times people with social anxiety simply must be alone -- closeted -- with the door

closed behind them. Even when they’re around familiar people, a person with social phobia may

feel overwhelmed and have the feeling that others are noticing their every movement and

critiquing their every thought. They feel like they are being observed critically and that other

people are making negative judgments about them.

One of the worst circumstances, though, is meeting people who are "authority figures".

Especially people such as bosses and supervisors at work, but including almost anyone who is

seen as being "better" in some way. People with social anxiety may get a lump in their throat and

their facial muscles may freeze up when they meet this person. The anxiety level is very high and

they’re so focused on "not failing" and "giving themselves away" that they don’t even remember

what was said. But later on, they’re sure they must have said the wrong thing...because they

always do.

How is it ever possible to feel "comfortable" or "natural" under these circumstances?

To the person with social anxiety, going to a job interview is pure torture: you know your

excessive anxiety will give you away. You’ll look funny, you’ll be hesitant, maybe you’ll even

blush, and you won’t be able to find the right words to answer all the questions. Maybe this is

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the worst part of all: You know that you are going to say the wrong thing. You just know it. It is

especially frustrating because you know you could do the job well if you could just get past this

terrifying and intimidating interview.

Welcome to the world of the socially anxious.

Social anxiety is the third largest psychological problem in the United States today. This

type of anxiety affects 15 million Americans in any given year. Social anxiety disorder is not

endemic to the U.S., it is a worldwide, culturally inclusive disorder. Unlike some other

psychological problems, social anxiety is not well understood by the general public or by medical

and mental health care professionals, such as doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists,

social workers, and counselors.

In fact, people with social anxiety are misdiagnosed almost 90% of the time. People coming

to The Social Anxiety Institute with diagnosable DSM-IV social anxiety disorder have been

mislabeled "schizophrenic", "manic-depressive", "clinically depressed", "panic disordered", and

"personality disordered", among other misdiagnoses.

Because few socially-anxious people have heard of their own problem, and have never seen

it discussed on any of the television talk shows, they think they are the only ones in the whole

world who have these terrible symptoms. Therefore, they must keep quiet about them.

It would be awful if everyone realized how much anxiety they experienced in daily life.

Unfortunately, without some kind of education, knowledge and treatment, social anxiety

continues to wreak havoc throughout their lives. Adding to the dilemma, when a person with

social anxiety finally gets up the nerve to seek help, the chances that they can find it are very,

very slim.

Making the situation more difficult is that social anxiety does not come and go like some

other physical and psychological problems. If you have social anxiety one day... you have it every

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day for the rest of your life, unless you receive the appropriate therapy from an experienced

therapist.

The feelings I described to you at the beginning of the article are those of people with

"generalized" social anxiety. That is, these symptoms apply to most social events and functions in

almost every area of life. I suffered from social anxiety myself for twenty years before I ever saw

the term or read about its symptoms in a book.

As with all problems, everyone with social anxiety has slightly different symptoms. Some

people, for example, cannot write in public because they fear people are watching and their hand

will shake. Others are very self-conscious and they find it too difficult to hold down a job. Still

others have severe anxiety about eating or drinking in the presence of other people. Blushing,

sweating, and "freezing" are other physiological symptoms. Some people with social anxiety feel

that a certain part of their body (such as the face or neck) are particularly "strange looking" and

vulnerable to being stared at.

They understand most of the time that their thoughts and feeling are irrational, but don't

know how to think and believe rationally.

One thing that all socially anxious people share is the knowledge that their thoughts and

fears are basically irrational. That is, people with social anxiety know that others are really not

critically judging or evaluating them all the time. They understand that people are not trying to

embarrass or humiliate them. They realize that their thoughts and feelings are somewhat

irrational. Yet, despite this rational knowledge, they still continue to feel that way.

The good news is that social anxiety is not only treatable, but the treatment is also

successful. Social anxiety no longer needs to be a life-long, devastating condition.

It is these automatic "feelings" and thoughts that occur in social situations that must be

met and conquered in therapy. Usually these feelings are tied to thoughts that are intertwined in

a vicious cycle in the persons’ mind.

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How can social anxiety be treated?

Many therapeutic methods have been studied, but cognitive-behavioral techniques have

been shown to work the best. In fact, treatment of social anxiety through these cognitive-

behavioral methods produces long-lasting, permanent relief from the anxiety-laden world of

social anxiety.

Don't let semantics and terminology about therapy throw you off. While it is correct and

best to say we use "cognitive-behavioral" therapy, this includes a mindfulness approach to

overcoming it, and it most definitely includes an acceptance of things as we continue to get

better.

A better life exists for all people who suffer from social anxiety...

Social anxiety responds to a comprehensive program of cognitive-behavioral therapy. To

overcome social anxiety, completion of a CBT therapy group is essential. What socially-anxious

people do not need is years and years of sitting around in a circle complaining about their

problems. In fact, socially anxious people who are taught to "analyze" and "ruminate" over their

problems make their social anxiety worse.

There is a better life for all people with social anxiety. Without treatment, social anxiety is a

torturous and traumatic emotional problem. With effective treatment, its bark is worse than its

bite. Add to this that the current research is clear that cognitive-behavioral therapy is highly

successful in the treatment of social anxiety. In fact, people who are unsuccessful are the ones

who are not persistent in their therapy and who won’t practice simple anti-anxiety strategies at

home — they are the ones who give up. (This very rarely happens, thankfully).

If a person is motivated to end the years of crippling anxiety, then comprehensive

cognitive-behavioral treatment provides methods, techniques, and strategies that all combine to

lessen anxiety and make the world a much more enjoyable place.

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Many of us have been through the crippling fears and constant anxiety that social anxiety

produces -- and have come out healthier and happier on the other side.

APPENDIX 2 – SURVEYS AND STATISTICS

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The evidence below is all the data collection to support the arguments on this research.

Opinions polls were responded in both English and Spanish to evaluate and analyze the impact

that the problematic had in the University of Quindío and some schools. In the surveys are more

opinions of the university students than the school students because it just was taken some school

students as a sample to carry out the study. In fact, the main objective of this study was conducted

in the university. Most of the questions were closed questions to make the analysis faster and get

better results. The rest of the questions were to collect additional data for the support of the

research. The results given in the surveys were affirmative with the thesis, for it demonstrated the

lack of knowledge that some people has about the disorder and the wrong manner to relate it with

other types of anxiety disorders.

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UNIVERSITY OF QUINDIO - FACULTY OF EDUCATIONMODERN LANGUAGES PROGRAM - READING & WRITING II

RESEARCH PAPER - SOCIAL ANXIETY DISORDER IN EDUCATIONOpinion Poll- Overall Analysis

1. “Social anxiety disorder, also called social phobia, is an anxiety disorder in which a person has an excessive and unreasonable fear of social situations.”

* Do you see the difference between shyness and social anxiety disorder?

DATA fi hi HI FIYes 21 0,70 21 0,70No 9 0,30 30 1,00

Conclusion: The results for the surveys were unexpected, for most specialists and experts in mental health say that people in most cases confuse shyness with Social Anxiety, but in the recent survey conducted with some students from the University Of Quindío and local schools show to know the difference: 70% out of 100% students surveyed see the difference between those two concepts.

2. Do you know cases of people who have experienced problems and fears trying to engage in social situations?


30

70%

30%

1. Do you see the difference between shyness and Social Anxiety Disorder

(SAD)?

Yes

No


conclusion:90% of people surveyed out of 100% stated to know cases of people with problems to engage in social situations. However, there are less than 10% who does not know or heard about such cases.

3. Do you think a person who is isolated from society lives a normal life?


Conclusion:90% out of 100% people surveyed responded that a person who is isolated from society does not live a normal life for some reasons, making general conclusions, some argued that a person needs from social interaction to acquire knowledge and defend his/ her ideas in a world made to interact.

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90%

10%

2. Do you know cases of people who have experienced fears tryng to en-

gage in social situations?

Yes No

10%

90%

3. Do you think a person who is iso-lated from society lives a normal life?

Yes No


4. Do you know the emotional, physical and behavioral symptoms of a person who suffers from SAD (Social Anxiety Disorder)?DATA fi hi HI FIYes 9 0,30 9 0,30No 21 0,70 30 1,00

Conclusion: 70% out of 100% people surveyed responded to know the symptoms of SAD. Nevertheless, 30% of them responded not to have clear idea of the disorder and assume that it was their first time they have heard about it.

5. Do you think the social competences of students with social anxiety disorder are in disadvantage compared to sociable students?


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30%

70%

4. Do you know the emotional, phy-sical and behavioral symptoms of a

person who suffers from SAD?

Yes

No


Conclusion: 80% out of 100% individuals interviewed responded that social phobic students are in disadvantage compared with socially skilled students. On the other hand, 20% of the surveyed students responded that they have the same skills as sociable students.

6. Do you consider that the lack of social interaction or the presence of SAD can affect the learning process of a student?


Conclusion: 83% out of 100% agreed that the lack of social interaction affects the learning process of students, as this is a sample that the symptoms which presents the disorder are causing impairments in education. Whereas, 17% out of 100% stated that the lack of social interaction does not affect the learning process.

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83%

17%

6. Does the presence of SAD or the lack of social interaction affect the

learning process of a student?

Yes No

80%

20%

5. Are the social competences of students with SAD in disadvantage

compared to sociable students?

Yes

No


7. Do you think the lack of socialization and participation in class affects the learning skills (reading, writing, listening/speaking)?


Conclusion: 73% out of 100% stated the lack of socialization is important to develop the learning skills, (the reading, writing, and audio oral part) properly. However, just 27% of people surveyed disagree with the assumption that not all the learning skills are affected, and it depends how the person develop the condition.

8. How is the academic performance of a person affected by social phobia?

DATA fi hi HI FINo affected 0 0,00 0 0,00Lowly affected 4 0,13 4 0,13Moderately affected 13 0,43 17 0,57Highly affected 13 0,43 30 1,00

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73%

27%

7. Do you think the lack of sociali-zation and participation in class

affects the learning skills?

Yes

No


Conclusion: In this question, 0% of students said that their academic performance is not affected by social phobia; 13% out of 100% said it is lowly affected; 44% stated it is moderately affected, and the most of people surveyed claimed the academic performance is highly affected, most of them considers social phobia as a harmful disorder.

10. Who is more vulnerable to suffer from social phobia?

DATA fi hi HI FIChildren 10 0,32 10 0,32Teenagers 21 0,68 31 1,00Adults 0 0,00 31 1,00

Conclusion In the surveys, there were students who selected more than one vulnerable age to suffer from social phobia. Hence, 68% out of 100% said the most vulnerable age are

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32%

68%

10. Who is more vulnerable to suffer from social phobia?

Children

Teenagers

Adults

13%

43%

43%

8. How is the academic performance of a person affected by social phobia?

No affected

Lowly affected

Moderatly af -fected

Highly affected


teenagers; 32% out of 100% said children are another vulnerable age to suffer the disorder. The conclusion is that for some people, adults as the age which is not

9. How can teachers and classmates help a students with social phobia or with SAD?

DATA fi hi HI FIprovide confidence and safety in class 20 0,40 20 0,40preparing socialization activities 18 0,36 38 0,76provide advice and search for help 12 0,24 50 1,00

Conclusion: In this other part of the survey, some students wrote two or more data to help a person who suffer from SAD. The result is express in the times each data appear. In this, 20 out of 30 people said a student with SAD should be provided confidence and safety in class; 18 out of 30 people said a teacher should prepare socialization activities in class to integrate those students in class; and 12 out of 30 people said students and teachers must provide advice and search for experts to help a socially phobic student.

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provide confidence and safety in class

preparing socialization activities

provide advice and search for help

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5

10

15

20

25

9. How can teachers and classmates help a student with social phobia or with SAD symptoms?

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social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) in the learning process of students

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