Social Anxiety Disorder In Children

Social anxiety disorder in children is a problem that is often not recognized. Many people feel this is a condition that mainly affects adults. About fourteen percent of the adult population has social anxiety compared to about one percent of children. For children this condition can interfere with normal social development. The child may get anxious when meeting new people, when involved in common social situations and fear interaction with others. A child with social anxiety may cry, freeze, withdraw from a situation or even throw a tantrum.

There is a combination of two factors that causes social anxiety disorder in children. These factors are genetic and environment. This disorder is often passed on from parent to child. Infants and children watch people and parents to help them learn behaviors and social interactions. If an infant observes their parents avoiding social situation and getting anxious when interacting with others they are more likely to pick up these same

In public the child may freeze, have a tantrum or refuse to speak to others. These signs are most likely to appear when the child is facing their most feared social situation. For children these situations can include: reading out loud in class, speaking to adults, starting a conversation with peers, ordering food (or sweets) when out in public and attending social events such as birthday parties. Other signs include not asking the teacher for help in class and a fear of eating in front of other people. In adults the symptoms are a little different. Adults will sweat, have tremors, blush and also try to avoid social situations. Adults may also have a hard time interacting with others at work. Social anxiety disorder in children affects their ability to learn normal, healthy social interactions. If they are afraid to converse with their peers it will affect relationship building skills which can carry over into adult