History A leading psychopharmacologist David Hearly stated that the term “social phobia” began in the late 1960s to circulate among psychiatrists in England. He also said that the term “social phobia” had been unclaimed. Two decades later in 1980 social phobia was incorporated into the DSM-III. …show more content…
Men are more likely than women to use illicit drugs, alcohol or tranquilizers to relieve symptoms of social phobia and anxiety in social situations. In fact, “Baseball legend Mickey Mantle, for example, used alcohol to calm himself when making public appearances” (Wood et al., 2010, p. 480).
Symptoms People with social phobia can experience many different anxiety-provoking physical reactions. Some include blushing, sweating, trembling and/or having diarrhea. In extreme cases the person could become so worked-up that they go blank and/or faint. Social phobia can be a very debilitating disorder. In the extreme case, social phobia can affect someone’s work performance, which can prevent career advancement, the pursuit of education and social phobia can severely restrict the persons social life.
Behaviors The behaviors of someone with social phobia are quite different than those without the disorder. Social phobia as found by J.J Russell et al. was associated less with dominance and more with submission especially in situations that are high in anxiety. Evolutionary perspectives say that individuals are more submissive and less dominant because it could offer protection from others who are dominant. People with social anxiety disorder are likely to see themselves as more subordinate and therefore be more submissive and show more submissive behaviors when they feel at risk