Social anxiety disorder

Social anxiety disorder is persistent, impairing fear of social situations where a person may face scrutiny, embarrassment, or rejection. It can lead to avoidance or intense distress in those situations.

Fear of negative evaluation: Concern that others will judge, reject, or think poorly of oneself. Anticipated negative judgment is central to many feared social situations.
Exposure therapy: A behavioral treatment that gradually and repeatedly approaches feared situations without relying on avoidance. Planned social encounters test feared predictions and build tolerance of anxiety.
Social anxiety: Fear or unease about social interaction or being evaluated by other people. The disorder is a persistent, impairing form of social anxiety, not ordinary nervousness.
Behavioral inhibition: A childhood temperament marked by wariness and withdrawal in unfamiliar situations. It is associated with increased risk, but does not determine who develops the disorder.
Avoidance coping: A response to distress that reduces contact with a feared situation or thought. Avoiding social situations can bring short-term relief while preserving fear.
Cognitive restructuring: A therapeutic method for identifying and evaluating unhelpful interpretations and beliefs. It helps examine assumptions about scrutiny, rejection, and visible anxiety.
Specific phobia: A marked fear of a particular object or situation that leads to distress or avoidance. Its fear centers on a defined trigger, unlike the broad range of social scrutiny feared here.
Heritability: The proportion of variation in a trait within a population associated with genetic differences. Genetic influence contributes to risk, while its interaction with experience remains complex.
Safety behavior: An action used to prevent or conceal a feared outcome during an anxiety-provoking situation. Rehearsing sentences or limiting eye contact can make social encounters feel manageable but sustain threat beliefs.
Sertraline: A selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor medication used to treat several mental health conditions. Sertraline is one medication option for social anxiety disorder.

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