Latest research warns that teens who are heavy users of social media have a higher risk of social anxiety, but extreme shyness is one of the most common mental health problems for adults too. It’s also one of the longest lasting. The figures are that one person in eight suffers social anxiety at some point and only about half ever get therapy, typically after 15–20 years of struggling with the issue (figures from National Institute of Clinical Excellence guidance 2011).
The good news is that there is very strong evidence that therapy works for social anxiety.
It’s because of this evidence (based on what people say did or did not help them) that the NHS and insurance companies are willing to put resources into Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for social anxiety.
Perhaps the most frustrating issue for the socially anxious is why social anxiety does not improve even where people repeatedly try to face social situations? You go to work, you meet friends and others, but you find it difficult time after time even though we expect that facing fears is the way to beat them. It just doesn’t seem to work that way for social anxiety .
Two probable reasons are:
1. You carry the same unhelpful beliefs about yourself into each and every interaction.
2. You try to cope in ways that don’t help – in fact they make things worse (“safety behaviours”).
These patterns are the targets of cognitive behavioural therapy. Identifying and shifting unrealistic thinking patterns and unhelpful safety behaviours can beat the problem once and for all. It’s a simple formula but the process requires work and time. Evidence shows that when other variables are factored out, social anxiety reduces grades for those studying, promotions and earnings at work and even likelihood of marriage. Clearly, for the overwhelming majority, the results of the right kind of therapy more than justify the work involved.