Understanding Social Anxiety: A Recovery Guide for Sufferers, Family, and Friends

This powerful book explains the debilitating effects of social anxiety and the development of the disorder, emphasizing the need for a resolution of this disorder and identifying common but unhelpful coping mechanisms as well as true methods to change and live life unafraid of social situations.

It is estimated that some 15 million Americans suffer from social anxiety disorder. For these individuals, parties, sporting events, and even workplaces or public shopping environments evoke anxiety and fear. People who suffer from social anxiety disorder-the most common of all anxiety disorders-fear being scrutinized and judged by others in social or performance situations. They know their fear is unreasonable, but are powerless against the anxiety.



This book provides comprehensive coverage of social anxiety disorder by covering its history, explaining the symptoms and root causes, and presenting information on how to make the key changes in thought that can help sufferers find relief and be more comfortable in the modern world. The author uses case histories and dialogue in therapeutic settings to provide a realistic depiction of social anxiety that makes the topic more relevant and understandable to clinicians, students, and friends and family members of sufferers who want to help the socially anxious individual. The emphasis on people's resistance to changing or even examining the basis of their underlying beliefs illustrates the importance of this topic to the overall foundation of social anxiety and the urgency of addressing belief systems in the process of resolution and recovery.









Presents a practical, realistic, and research-based examination of the development and continuation of social anxiety in individuals



Provides readers with an understanding of the tangible health risks of social isolation



Draws on clinical histories and examples from the community at large to illustrate various scenarios, document progression of the impairment, and identify effective steps toward resolution



Written by an author with 30 years of experience with clients suffering from anxiety disorders, many of those coping with social anxiety