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Hypnosis for Social Phobia
Overcoming the fear of being judged
For sufferers, social phobia can get so bad that they are afraid to go out the door. Apprehension and fear of the next conversational situation or meeting keeps many awake at night. Musings are not only directed at future situations, but also past moments when socially anxious people did not behave the way they expected them to behave keeps people awake and makes them anxious. No question people with social phobia quickly reach the limits of their strength, feel inhibited and constricted, and have the impression of being completely at the mercy and helpless in certain encounters. For those who do not suffer from it, Social Phobia can be difficult to understand. The fear of spiders is usually easier to understand, and the fear of heights is also understandable to the vast majority. But why is someone afraid of fellow human beings? A social phobia is not the fear of "bad people". Socially anxious people are not afraid of thieves. Affected people are not afraid of persecution, but basically they are afraid of themselves. Socially phobic people are afraid of being judged by his neighbor. No matter if stranger or known. Social phobics are afraid of devaluation, of embarrassment, of people laughing at them because they might say something "wrong" and stand out because of their behavior. Read now how we can help you with hypnosis to dissolve social phobia and you will gain more than just freedom of life: more quality of life and the chance for a self-determined life that suits you.
Social phobia symptoms
How to recognize social phobia
Social phobia is not easy to recognize at first. It camouflages itself. "I just don't like going to parties," someone says with a weary smile and then disappears again. Another is absent from meetings or rounds of introductions or shows up. People take sick leave because of depressions or unexplained pain. Parents think their child is addicted to computers, but maybe he or she just doesn't dare to get in touch with "real" people and appear in groups. We would like to show you how to recognize social phobia: The symptoms are always related to a fear, sometimes this fear is conscious, sometimes it happens unconsciously. Social phobics fear failure, embarrassment, being devalued or rejected. You are afraid of losing control of your behavior and the situation, and of standing out negatively.
Social phobia manifests itself in people through different symptoms and bodily reactions on a physical and psychological level:
Social phobia manifests itself in people through different symptoms and bodily reactions on a physical and psychological level:
Physical Symptoms
Usually there are physical symptoms in acute moments such as frequent blushing, sweating, hot flashes, sweaty hands, rapid heartbeat, palpitations, blood pressure rises, trembling, tension, cramping, dizziness, nausea, sweating, strong tension in the body, diarrhea and urination may occur and even nausea when in contact with other people. Shallow breathing that may progress to shortness of breath and feelings of suffocation. This condition can further progress to panic attack.
Psychological Symptoms
Social phobia is manifested by feelings of insecurity and tension as soon as a certain number of people is exceeded or as soon as certain (authority) persons direct their gaze at you. Feelings of shame and the feeling of being watched lead to the affected person avoiding eye contact and developing fears of speaking or eating in public. As a result, many avoid public places, meetings or business meals, often in private and even with friends. The fear of being negatively evaluated and rejected is great. Affected people feel unfree and inhibited. They intuitively feel that they would also like to feel different and enjoy moments and situations with other people without negative thoughts.
In most cases, social phobia is accompanied by great suffering, which severely restricts the affected person's radius of life and quality of life.
Hypnosis for social phobia
For people who suffer from social phobia, it is often particularly difficult to get help. It is important to us that the first step into our practice is particularly easy with online appointment booking. Clients often report at their first appointment that booking an appointment has already changed things for the better and that they were dreading the first conversation. Therefore, it is our special concern to perceive you attentively and with understanding in your special situation. You can be sure, in contrast to other therapeutic forms of treatment, we take special time for you and your concerns, so that you can feel really safe at any time and it may even be easy for you to speak openly.
Social phobia self test
Do I suffer from social phobia?
The following questions may be the first clues as to whether you suffer from social phobia:
If you can answer yes to any of these questions and feel restricted in your daily life, you should seek medical or therapeutic advice. You may have a social phobia. Please note that questions are always broad, so it is possible that people who are not affected by social phobia may get a positive result. Not everyone who frequently feels insecure in a contract situation suffers from social phobia.
Social phobia facts
In what kinds of situations does social phobia appear?
People affected by social phobia are afraid of feeling embarrassed or ridiculed in front of individuals or groups. Most socially anxious people report differences in relation to other people. In an environment where affected individuals know people and also feel loved and understood by them, it is easier to feel safe. Whereas situations in which they are confronted with strangers or even people who are higher up in the professional hierarchy, the anxiety often increases. They pay a lot of attention to their behavior: They pay attention to the way they walk, talk or eat and try to cover up or avoid recognizable, outward signs of their anxiety. These anxiety symptoms, which may be externally detectable, include blushing, increased sweating, stuttering, trembling, which embarrasses them. A negative anxiety cycle is created: If affected persons notice these signs in themselves, the fear increases that these very signs could be seen and evaluated from the outside. The fear increases and the signs can be perceived more intensely. As a rule, the fear of socially phobic people refers to moments in everyday life in which they feel observed or evaluated, for example, during exams, speaking or eating in a public space, in a professional context, shopping, in conversations with strangers or even with individual friends. Not infrequently, the anxiety also relates to interactions with the opposite sex or in professional situations with the boss or authority figures in general. Affected individuals try to avoid such situations or only expose themselves to them under strong tension and fear with heart palpitations, nausea, diarrhea or muscle tension, feelings of shame and great insecurity.
Who is affected by social phobia?
Phobias include a whole range of fears that, viewed objectively, are triggered solely or predominantly by a situation that is not in itself dangerous. The number of people suffering from social phobia is high: for example, one in 10 young people is said to suffer from social phobia. In total, there are about 600 different phobias. In Germany, too, adolescents and young adults are increasingly affected by social phobia. According to the Institute for Behavior Therapy Training Hamburg, 7-16% of all people suffer from social phobia at least once in their lives. Women are affected 1.5-2x more often than men. Affected people with a phobia endure fearful situations with dread, which can also intensify to the point of a panic attack. Symptoms include palpitations or a strong feeling of weakness. If the fear of social situations intensifies to the point of an anxiety and panic attack, sufferers also often report fear of dying and loss of control. (Read more about hypnosis for panicattacks). Incidentally, social phobia is particularly common in Japan. There it has its own name: Hikikomori, which means "to shut oneself in" or, more precisely, social withdrawal. Those affected are mostly teenagers and young adults who can no longer go to school, but also cannot work or attend university.
Source Statista:
Own illustration, data source: https://de.statista.com/ Question/Title: People's Most Common Fears, Sources Focus; Diverse Sources (The Book of Lists), Survey by Diverse Sources (The Book of Lists), Published by Focus, Source Reference Focus, No. 20/2013, May 13, 2013, page 84, Publication Date May 2013, accessed 09/09/2020
Own illustration, data source: https://de.statista.com/ Question/title: distribution* of phobic disorders among children and adolescents in Germany in 2017, source DAK, survey by DAK, Published by DAK, source reference DAK - Kinder- und Jugendreport 2019, page 133, publication date November 2019, accessed 09.09.2020
Own representation, data source: https://de.statista.com/ Question/title: population proportion with anxiety disorders, source expert(s) (Kessler), survey by expert(s) (Kessler), Published by Focus, origin reference Focus 14/2011, 04.04.2011, page 86, publication date April 2011, accessed 09.09.2020
Own illustration, data source: https://de.statista.com/ Question/Title: People's Most Common Fears, Sources Focus; Diverse Sources (The Book of Lists), Survey by Diverse Sources (The Book of Lists), Published by Focus, Source Reference Focus, No. 20/2013, May 13, 2013, page 84, Publication Date May 2013, accessed 09/09/2020
Own illustration, data source: https://de.statista.com/ Question/title: distribution* of phobic disorders among children and adolescents in Germany in 2017, source DAK, survey by DAK, Published by DAK, source reference DAK - Kinder- und Jugendreport 2019, page 133, publication date November 2019, accessed 09.09.2020
Own representation, data source: https://de.statista.com/ Question/title: population proportion with anxiety disorders, source expert(s) (Kessler), survey by expert(s) (Kessler), Published by Focus, origin reference Focus 14/2011, 04.04.2011, page 86, publication date April 2011, accessed 09.09.2020
Social phobia causes
Causes of social anxiety and the fear of being judged
There are a number of dispositions that can lead to social phobia. Some of these are inherent in the personality, others are inherited, and still others are learned over the course of a lifetime. Among the personality traits is shyness. It is first of all a widespread quite normal character trait, which is usually lost in prolonged contact with certain people. Rather shy people then feel increasingly confident in dealing and lose their initial shyness. In combination with other causes, however, shyness can intensify and develop into social phobia.
One of these causes lies in upbringing. Children who are frequently criticized or given the feeling by their parents that they are disruptive or that they are not right or good enough the way they are, develop low self-esteem. This leads to insecurity, which in turn has a negative effect on the ability to make social contacts and to dare to approach people. If negative experiences with other confidants or authority figures such as teachers at school or in the circle of friends are then added, such a child withdraws more and more into itself (see also hypnosis for children and teenagers). Fear of ridicule, devaluation and rejection and the associated pain of exclusion, socially anxious people develop a variety of ways to deal with themselves. People with social phobia often have distinctive hobbies that they can do all by themselves. They play excessively on the computer, have a pronounced passion for collecting or immerse themselves in the world of stories and books and read a lot.
Social phobia consequences
What consequences can social anxiety have?
The longer a social phobia persists and remains untreated, the greater the suffering of those affected, all the more so when situations such as those in professional life can be avoided less and less and they are increasingly confronted with seemingly insurmountable challenges. Sufferers of social phobia or social anxiety feel helplessly at the mercy of others, which can have a major impact on their success in their professional and private lives.
Summarize the consequences of a social phobia as follows:
Summarize the consequences of a social phobia as follows:
- Decreasing self-confidence and self-awareness due to repeated embarrassing moments and feelings of fear and shame.
- Increased feeling of not being good enough and not being able to "make it" again.
- Insecurity and social anxiety show up in private and professional life: psychosocial, somatic and economic consequences.
- Problems in the professional environment, own sabotage of advancement opportunities in leadership positions, up to loss of work to avoid situations.
- Increased risk through "self-therapy or self-medication" through alcohol or even drugs to control anxiety and conquer "shyness".
- Loneliness, as social phobia prevents sufferers from making social contacts or entering into a partnership.
Social phobia and secondary conditions
If left untreated, many sufferers of social anxiety develop other conditions such as signs and symptoms of depression as a secondary condition. Other anxiety disorders, panicattacks or addiction disorders due to "self-therapy or self-medication" using alcohol, drugs or medication can also be secondary disorders.
Social phobia hypnosis treatment
Treat social anxiety with hypnosis
Hypnosis is made for people who are afraid of other people. This is because hypnosis helps people to be completely with themselves again and to generate more self-acceptance and self-love in dealing with themselves. People can feel increasingly comfortable and secure, have more confidence in themselves again and thus create new positive experiences and gain experience. On the way to the inner self, you will learn which switches in your life were set in such a way that you had to experience this fear of other people. Piece by piece you will create your life as you want to live it. From then on things will go steadily upwards.
Hypnosis helps with social phobia
hypnotherapy can release blockages and reveal resources. In this way, access to one's own strengths is freed up again and sufferers regain their self-efficacy. Self-help techniques in the form of self-hypnosis are particularly important and natural in our hypnosis practice, in order to be able to enter a mental state in which you can be more "with yourself" again, even in stressful and anxiety-ridden situations, and thus retain control over the situation. Hypnosis is well and helpfully used at our practice for social phobia.
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You can find more information about hypnosis and our hypnotherapy sessions in the FAQ section and more specifics about the hypnotherapy procedure here.