Social Anxiety

On one end of the personality spectrum, you have people that walk into a room and their presence can be felt. This person will be outgoing and easily talks to anyone. In the center, there are people that are shy and tend to slip by unnoticed, without drawing attention to themselves. It takes these people time to warm up to social situations. On the opposite end of the spectrum, you have people that are considered to have social anxiety. These people exhibit symptoms of extreme shyness, persistent fear of the same situations. Many people believe shyness and social anxiety is the same thing; however, shyness is classified as a personality trait, while social anxiety is described as a disorder. Shyness is defined as having “a strong sensitivity

Shy people endure social situations until they become familiar and comfortable. People with social anxiety, on the other hand, tend to avoid these situations entirely if they are able. If not, they endure them with very high levels of distress. People that possess the shyness personality trait easily relate to other people. They know all too well what it is like to feel judged and rejected. They spend a lot of time inside their own minds thinking about life and carefully considering others’ thoughts and emotions. Socially anxious people have a very hard time relating to others. They experience feelings of vulnerability and increasing danger that isn’t really there. Since what they are feeling is in their mind, no one else seems to be able to understand. Therefore, people with social anxiety have a hard time relating to other people in everyday situations. Finally, people diagnosed with social anxiety have a poorer quality of life than those that do not have symptoms of anxiety. Everyday tasks that are simple to most people may take extra effort and endurance to complete for people with anxiety because of the uneasiness they feel in certain situations. For example, a person with social anxiety may not be employed for fear of the interview process. As stated before, people with social anxiety tend to avoid situations that make them too uncomfortable. While a job interview may be something that most people do not enjoy, they get through it with minimal problems in order to obtain the position. People with social anxiety may not be able to endure the process and, in turn, may never get the job they