Social Anxiety Cause

The Cause Of Social Anxiety Disorder Revealed

You may be wondering about the cause of social anxiety disorder. Where did it come from in the first place. Perhaps you have already seen a psychotherapist who insists that you must have some sort of deep unconsciously repressed memory of some traumatic event that was the cause of social anxiety disorder for you. You can put your mind at rest, social anxiety is a genetically inherited trait. It is not caused by psychological trauma or any sort of unconscious drive or repressed memory.

There is one element of truth in the idea of trauma-based causes. There are situations where a genetic predisposition toward anxiety about how others perceive you can lead into psychological stress in reaction to events that most people would consider to be normal-range life experiences. For example, a first day at school where your teacher reprimands you for not following instructions, when you thought you were following instructions. For most children, this would not be significant enough to make it into long-term memory. But for someone with social anxiety this could cause a significant degree of distress, embarrassment, and negative rumination (thinking about it over and over) with the result being a small increase in sensitivity to this kind of situation. The cause of social anxiety disorder may be rooted in genetics, but over time, the person with a shy or socially tuned-in temperament may have a gradual up-regulation of the brain’s fight or flight response to situations in which they may be scrutinized by others, embarrassed, or judged negatively.

In animal models of social anxiety, monkeys have been purposefully bread to increase traits of social anxiety to study the traits (which are presumed to have some similarities to the human version). What researches have found is that monkeys bred to have social anxiety are much more aware of subtle non-verbal facial expressions of the dominant monkeys in their tribe. The find that the socially anxious monkeys have greater fear in response to the slightest facial expression changes that could indicate disapproval or pending violence. This trait appears to help these monkeys avoid fights and survive better. In the most extreme forms the traits cause too much stress and end up leading to less thriving and poor social consequences for the monkeys (in terms of their hierarchical social structure or pecking order).

The cause of social anxiety disorder is considered to be genetic at root, because it is a personality trait that is more genetically inheritable than the traits that cause other psychological disorders such as depression or obsessive compulsive disorder. In time, the part of the brain that remembers threats (the amygdala) begins to develop greater sensitivity to situations that could lead to a threat of loss or harm, which are situations that may lead to embarrassment for someone with excessive social anxiety. Unfortunately, the amygdala never forgets, so it quickly analyzes any situation that could lead to scrutiny by others and begins firing off the anxiety hormones like noradrenaline and cortisol in response to simple encounters with threatening situations such as having to introduce yourself to a new group or in an interview situation or first date. But there is hope. The hope lies in the fact that you can lay down new neural circuits in the brain that gradually take over and replace the patterns that previously led invariably to the firing of the amygdala’s fight or flight (anxiety) program. The old rut is still there, but it’s like you form a new rut for your brain’s automatic response to go down as a replacement for the old rut. (The idea of a rut comes from the concept that neurons in the brain form patterns of firing with resulting mental habits and the basis of memory). One of the best ways to form these new neurological ruts in the brain is though a systematic program of facing socially anxious encounters with a new plan in mind. A great example of this kind of change can be found in a system that activates humor and the part of your brain that acts on challenges. Find information on a very cool information product that has been put together for that exact purpose at this link:

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If you don’t have the generalized type of social anxiety where just about any encounter can produce fear, you may instead be the sort of person who only gets powerful anxiety symptoms in reaction to performance situations, such as being put on the spot in a meeting to give a report, or being asked to give a short presentation on something at work or at school. If that’s the case, I recommend that you do an in-depth study of the material presented by an associate of mine at this link: The course that will end your fear of public speaking

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Whatever you do, don’t give up. Social anxiety gets worse the more you give in to it by avoiding social situations that make you anxious. Fear only decreases as you face the cause of social anxiety disorder, which is your own fear of the negative evaluations of others. Take action now by investing some time and focus on improving your response to anxiety-provoking situations. Let those who have been through it before save you from years of pain and struggle by sharing their secrets.

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