SOCIAL ANXIETY

How does social anxiety affect one's cognitive functioning and their ability to function adequately within their environment?

Table of Contents

Background of the problem3

What is social anxiety disorder (SAD)?3

Cognitive Reserve4

Social Anxiety and Cognitive Dysfunction4

Society's Environmental Norms6

Steps toward Healing7

Ameliorating the Cognitive Reserve7

How does social anxiety affect one's cognitive functioning and their ability to function adequately within their environment?

Background of the problem

The study is related to the social anxiety that affect an individual's cognitive functioning and their ability to function adequately within the environment. Social anxiety ruins lives and careers. Probably, it is the last link in a continuum with the first step would be simple shyness. A young discipline, cognitive psychopathology, shows that, in addition to other factors, cognitive functioning is involved in the development and maintenance of social anxiety states. The recognition of the importance of social anxiety has led to a resurgence of research on assessment and treatment. This article provides an overview of recent advances in this area, including the development of new assessment tools and interventions developed specifically for social anxiety disorder with respect to cognitive functioning and the ability to function adequately within the environment.

What is social anxiety disorder (SAD)?

Social anxiety, as the term implies, refers to anxiety (a feeling of emotional distress akin to fear or panic) experienced in interpersonal situations, such as job interviews, dates, public presentations, or casual social gatherings. Because of the variety of situations in which people experience social anxiety, several specific types of social anxiety have been investigated in the literature, including public speaking anxiety, audience anxiety, stage fright, sport performance anxiety, and physique anxiety, to name a few.

Social anxiety disorder is diagnosed when people feel overwhelmingly anxious and excessively self-conscious in social situations of everyday life. People with social anxiety disorder have an intense fear, persistent, and chronic be observed and judged by others and do things that will embarrass them (Leary and Kowalski, 1995). They can worry for days or weeks before a situation that produces fear. This fear may become so severe that it interferes with work, school, and other common activities and may make it difficult to make and keep friends (Clark and Wells, 1995).

Although people with social anxiety disorder are aware that their fears about being with people are excessive or unreasonable, they are unable to overcome. Even, if they manage to confront their fears and be around other people, often feel very anxious beforehand, are intensely uncomfortable throughout the encounter and worry for many hours after the situation about how they were judged for others (Alden and Taylor, 2004).

Cognitive Reserve

Social Anxiety and Cognitive Dysfunction

Since each person is a social being and needs for the survival of another human being, the search for a group membership approval and is expected, therefore the amount of anxiety about social events is effective to perform in an appropriate manner gaining acceptance of significant others (Schlenker and Leary, 1982). Instead social anxiety can become a problem if it spreads to repeated interpersonal situations in a far, limiting the functioning of ...