Social Anxiety In College Essay

Social anxiety is on the rise and people of all ages are affected by it. However, its presence in students pursuing higher education is what’s really alarming. According to Brook & Willoughby (2015), “…prevalence rates of social anxiety in university/college students range from 10 to 33% as compared to 7 to 13% in the general population” (p. 1139). There is clearly a greater chance that students at the university level will experience social anxiety, compared to the rest of the population. The real problem though is not its prevalence, but the effects it has on university students. Social anxiety is responsible for students missing out on important social interactions in university/college, has a negative impact on their well-being, leads to

Based on research from Norton (2008) and Van Ingen & Novicki (2009) “Many studies have shown that social anxiety also results in use of alcohol, suicide, crime, and severe bi-polar personality disorder” (as cited by Bhamani & Hussain, 2012, p. 2). These are all negative effects on one’s well-being. Well-being means, “the state of being happy, healthy, or prosperous” (Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, 1828). The fact that students with social anxiety are at risk of suicide or substance abuse is also a major problem. This shows just how much social anxiety can affect college students, or anyone else for that matter. A student without social anxiety, most likely has a higher state of well-being and is less likely to be at risk of these types of problems. For example, in a study by Buckner, Timpano, Zvolensky, Sachs-Ericsson & Schmidt (2008), “80% of their participants reported that their social anxiety predated their alcohol use disorder” (as cited in Villarosa, Moorer, Madson, Zeigler-Hill & Noble, 2014, p. 887). This means that these participants had social anxiety prior to developing their alcohol disorder. This goes to show that social anxiety really can lead to other problems and definitely affects students’ well-being. In addition, according to Roberts & Zelenyanski (2002), “student well-being in the first year is poorer than the general population (as cited in

According to Monroe, Borzi & Burrell (1992), “…many other students avoid postsecondary education in order to eliminate their need to cope with associated communication demands” (as cited in Ameringen, Mancini & Farvolden, 2003, p. 564). These students that decide to not further their education, simply decide this based on the fact that they will have to communicate. There is no doubt that college requires a lot of communication. In college, students have to work with their peers, talk to professors, and speak in front of classes. People with social anxiety fear these kinds of situations and sometimes even avoid them at all costs. Therefore, it is not surprising that people who have social anxiety will skip out on going to college/university to avoid this. In addition, those that do go to college realize how hard it is on them and many drop out