Kids Awareness Series

Social phobia, which is also known as social anxiety disorder (SAD) is diagnosed with a child or teenager has a persistent fear of social situations, performing, and talking in front of other people. SAD is usually seen when your child or teen has a fear of being criticized or judged or when they are put in embarrassing situations with people that they are unfamiliar with. Social phobia affects one in every twenty-five children, and is diagnosed twice as often in girls than it is in boys. Teenagers are particularly occupied with how they compared and how they are viewed by their friends, and being self-conscious is relatively normal. SAD, however is diagnosed when the symptoms become extreme and interfere with your child or teens ability to function.

For a child/teen to be diagnosed with SAD the symptoms must last for a period of at least six months and this disorder is not simply when a child is experiencing some discomfort when they are put in any new situation. There is no one symptom that defines SAD, rather it a cluster of symptoms and when your child experiences a variety of symptoms.

Symptoms of SAD are:
Fearing scrutiny by others in social situations
Crying, throwing temper tantrums or anger episodes, or freezing when a child has to be a social situation
Avoiding the situations that cause the fear
Complaining of being sick in order to avoid having to go to school
Feeling like they are outside of the group or playing solitarily, or having few to no friends
Unwillingness to participate in group activities at school or on group projects, fear of raising their hand in class to avoid anyone looking at them, or being afraid to read in class

Four out of every ten children that have SAD refuse to attend school because of their anxiety. When your child/teen finally does go to school, they will most likely ask to go to the nurse’s office in order to avoid being in class and having to be around others or having to interact socially in a group. If your child has SAD, then they will most likely struggle with speaking up in class or asking the teacher for help and will have problems making friends. Social anxiety also causes physical symptoms in a child/teen and they will most likely blush or start sweating, experience dry mouth, feel nauseous, start trembling or shaking, and experience heart palpitations or dizziness.

Kids/teens that suffer with social anxiety when they are younger, are more likely to remain single in the future, attain less education, consider hurting themselves, have an erratic work history, abuse drugs or alcohol to deal with the anxiety, or have other psychiatric disorders. SAD is a disorder that requires psychiataric or psychological treatment. An effective treatment for SAD is Social Effectiveness Training that teaches children how to cope and effectively deal with social situations. This is a treatment that teaches children the necessary skills in order to handle any social situation in a competent manner, which in turn increases their self-confidence and self-esteem.

Adapted from The Everything Parent’s Guide to Children with Anxiety by Ilyne Sandas, M.A, and Christine Siegel, M.A. , 2008.