Social Anxiety Medication

Things to Know About Social Anxiety Medication

A lot of people get nervous or self-conscious on certain events, like giving a speech in front of a huge crowd or even on an interview for a new job.  But social anxiety is more than you could imagine. It is not just about shyness or occasional nervousness. Having social anxiety disorder means having too much fear of getting yourself embarrassed in the public. But the good news is, there are many ways to treat this condition like social anxiety medication and self help approaches that could aid in overcoming the symptoms brought about by this disorder.


Primary social anxiety disorder is the fear of being criticized, judged or embarrassed in public. You may be scared that people will judge you the wrong way or you will get underestimated as compared to others. Even though you know that you know that your fears are unreasonable and exaggerated, still you can’t stop feeling anxious.


People may feel sometimes that they are the only one having this kind of disorder but social anxiety is actually common. Many people are also suffering with these unreasonable fears but triggering factors of social anxiety on every person may sometimes vary.

Social Anxiety Medication - Triggering Factors for Social Anxiety

The following are the factors that could trigger the symptoms of social anxiety

Meeting new people

Being watched while doing something

Public Speaking

Going on a date

Performing on stage

Being the center of attention

Attending parties or social events

Talking to “important” public figures

Being criticized

Social Anxiety Medication - Signs and Symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder

Just because you get nervous in social events doesn’t indicate that you have social anxiety disorder. There really are people who are shy and self conscious when in public but it doesn’t reach to the point that it would affect their daily functioning. On the other hand, people with social anxiety disorder gets their daily routine affected which would lead to great distress.

Shaky voice

Sweating

Stomach discomfort

Pounding heart beat

Trembling or shaking

Muscle tension

Dizziness

Rapid breathing

Cold clammy hands

Intense worry for days, weeks, months before an upcoming event

Excessive self-consciousness and anxiety on social events

Intense fear of being criticized or being watched by people you don’t know

Fear of getting noticed that you’re nervous

Avoiding social events to the extent that your activities and life are interrupted

Social Anxiety Medication

Social anxiety medication are used to relieve the symptoms of the problem but it doesn’t assure to cure the social anxiety disorder. If you stop taking these social anxiety medications, your symptoms would most likely return full blown. Social anxiety medications are considered more effective when used in conjunction to therapy and other types of self help methods that deals with the causes of social anxiety disorder.


Three of the most common social anxiety medication:

Antidepressants	Antidepressants are used when social anxiety disorder is severe or devastating. Three most commonly used antidepressants for social anxiety are Paxil, Zoloft and Effexor.
Beta blockers	Bêta blockers work by blocking the stimulating effect of adrenaline when anxiety strikes. They may not have an effect on emotional symptoms but they can manage physical symptoms like trembling, sweating and rapid heart rate.
Benzodiazepines	Benzodiazepines are fast acting anti anxiety medications but they are sedating and addictive. That’s why they are only prescribed when other social anxiety medications won’t work.