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Shyness or social anxiety?
Boston.com ( Boston Globe) ^ | 11 June 2008 | Christopher Lane

Posted on 06/11/2008 5:01:42 PM PDT by shrinkermd

THE SOCIETY of Nuclear Medicine has been touting a new study that suggests we're one step closer to solving the riddle of social anxiety disorder. Researchers believe the origins of the disorder are biological.

This sounds like a breakthrough worth celebrating. "Social anxiety disorder affects approximately 15 million American adults," the press release declares, and is "the third most common mental disorder in the United States, after depression and alcohol dependence." But what are its symptoms? A "fear of being evaluated by others, with the expectation that such an assessment will be negative and embarrassing."

Once you start calling fear of criticism a psychiatric disorder, it's easy to ignore the countless social and psychological factors that cause stress and anxiety. Yet the justification for calling the disorder biological turned out to be modest at best. MRI scans of five women and seven men who met the criteria for social anxiety disorder suggested that minor fluctuations of dopamine and serotonin "may play a role in the neurobiology of social anxiety disorder."

That's a bit like saying, "Exercise will increase your heart rate" or "Caffeine is a stimulant." Microscopic fluctuations of dopamine and serotonin impact the brain all the time, helping determine our moods. It's a stretch to predict the health of 15 million Americans from a brief focus on only a dozen of them.

The biggest problem with such claims is that they embrace, rather than narrow, the disorder's amazingly open-ended definition. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the world's psychiatric bible, lists as a symptom "fear that the individual may behave in a manner that will be humiliating or embarrassing." If you need a reminder of what such fears are like, think back to the night of your senior prom.

(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: anxiety; disorders; mentalhealth; psychiatry; psychology; shyness; socialanxiety
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1 posted on 06/11/2008 5:01:43 PM PDT by shrinkermd
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To: shrinkermd

Used to be people learned how to cope with criticism as they grew up. Now we have situations like a play where everyone’s the lead. The world gone mad.


2 posted on 06/11/2008 5:05:55 PM PDT by visualops (artlife.us . nature photography desktop wallpapers)
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To: shrinkermd

How about “Want nothing to do with those people” ? Do I really need to grow the beard?


3 posted on 06/11/2008 5:06:11 PM PDT by allmost
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To: shrinkermd

Psychiatric disorder? Can’t they find anything else to fill the pages freed up by homosexuality?

When’s the first Shy Pride parade? “We’re shy and we’re in your face!”


4 posted on 06/11/2008 5:10:57 PM PDT by 668 - Neighbor of the Beast (Teach your child to be an American. Take him out of public school.)
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To: shrinkermd
a new study that suggests we're one step closer to solving the riddle of social anxiety disorder

I love riddles! How does it go?

5 posted on 06/11/2008 5:13:16 PM PDT by 668 - Neighbor of the Beast (Teach your child to be an American. Take him out of public school.)
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To: shrinkermd

Growing up and as a young adult/older adult I think I have had more than mere shyness. I’m less that way now that I’m married and have three kids, but I’m still not outgoing. It’s definitely debilitating, but mine has eased with age. Also I think becoming a conservative has helped and interacting with people on this forum has made me less self-focused/conscious.


6 posted on 06/11/2008 5:13:31 PM PDT by beaversmom
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To: 668 - Neighbor of the Beast

Ha, ha—nobody would show up to march though.


7 posted on 06/11/2008 5:15:30 PM PDT by beaversmom
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To: beaversmom

Self perception is an eternally evolving concept. It changes throughout life.


8 posted on 06/11/2008 5:17:49 PM PDT by allmost
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To: shrinkermd
While shivering in my shoes
I strike a careless pose
And whistle a happy tune
And no one ever knows, I'm afraid.

The result of this deception
Is very strange to tell
For when I fool the people
I fear I fool myself as well!

Make believe you're brave
And the trick will take you far
You may be as brave
As you make believe you are.


9 posted on 06/11/2008 5:21:17 PM PDT by I see my hands (_8(|)
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To: shrinkermd

Oh! Just great! Now being embarassed to be a member of the human race is a disorder?


10 posted on 06/11/2008 5:23:07 PM PDT by nkycincinnatikid
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To: shrinkermd
Gotta love those open-ended definitions. Reminds me of Melody Beattie's bestseller Codependent No More that listed 150 symptoms. How useless is that? Of course, the book sold millions of copies to Oprah watchers back in the day when codependence was the psychological disorder d'jour.
11 posted on 06/11/2008 5:23:13 PM PDT by Veto! (Opinions freely dispensed as advice)
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To: 668 - Neighbor of the Beast
“We’re shy and we’re in your face!”

LOL!

***

Insurance benefits soon to follow.

12 posted on 06/11/2008 5:23:32 PM PDT by the invisib1e hand (Obama's a front man. Who's behind him?)
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To: shrinkermd
So being shy is a psychological disorder, but being homosexual is not. Got it.

Does anyone know of any Amish communities who are accepting new members, because I'd really like to exit the modern world.

13 posted on 06/11/2008 5:25:25 PM PDT by Bubba_Leroy ("What's up with Whitey?" - Michelle Obama)
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To: shrinkermd

I’m not shy, I just don’t like people.


14 posted on 06/11/2008 5:29:41 PM PDT by Rebelbase
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To: I see my hands

“Mood follows action”

“Fake it till you make it”


15 posted on 06/11/2008 5:30:20 PM PDT by sinanju
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To: shrinkermd
"the third most common mental disorder in the United States, after depression and alcohol dependence."

Where does leftism fit in the rankings? A pre-occupation with trying to keep up with the Joneses while knocking the Joneses down to size by getting them fired, taxing away their big cars and houses, and regulating their speech and every move has got to be the biggest ill of our times.

16 posted on 06/11/2008 5:42:34 PM PDT by Reeses (Leftism is powered by the evil force of envy.)
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To: allmost

Gee, the rare honestly correct statement found on a thread like this in freerepublic. I like this site and all, lurked here a long time. but some of these people are so simple minded that it makes me anxious


17 posted on 06/11/2008 5:52:29 PM PDT by Hillary's Folly (Imagine there's no Hillary. It's easy if you try.)
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To: I see my hands

A nice poem. And the best “tagline” of all time! :P


18 posted on 06/11/2008 5:55:14 PM PDT by To Hell With Poverty (I'll take a "third Bush term" over a second Carter term ANY DAY!)
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To: visualops
how to cope with criticism

Social shyness is not caused by criticism and feedback but actually from a lack of it. The shy person doesn't know what they are doing wrong and people are too polite to tell them. So they just give up and avoid situations they do not understand. Social shyness is improved by feedback, coaching, and constructive criticism. But that is really hard to come by without a network of many close forgiving friends which shy people do not have. The internet is adding to the problem in many ways but helping in others.

19 posted on 06/11/2008 6:00:46 PM PDT by Reeses (Leftism is powered by the evil force of envy.)
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To: To Hell With Poverty
It's from "The King and I"

Re tag: Thanks!


20 posted on 06/11/2008 6:00:56 PM PDT by I see my hands (_8(|)
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