Posted by hyperfocus on August 16, 2009, at 18:20:40
In reply to Re: FDA fails Lexapro Approval for Social and Panic, posted by morganator on August 14, 2009, at 17:23:05
> Is there a difference between social axiety and social phobia? I feel like many of us have social anxiety but we do not fear going out and doing things. We may even wait tables but have a more difficult time doing it because of out anxiety. We might want to go out all of the time but drink more because of our anxiety.
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> With social phobia I would expect that people felt anxiety about going out and doing things around other people in anticipation of doing so.
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> So, maybe there is a difference between social anxiety and social phobia.
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> 3 friends of mine were on or still are on Lexapro and they all found significant relief from social anxiety and phobia.I don't know if there's an official clinical difference but when I was younger I had a lot of anxiety in social situations, but I still did them (going out, going to visit friends and so on.) But as I got older my fear became phobic - I really am terrified at the most mundane human contact now. I'm housebound and afraid to even go outside and take out the garbage or walk my dog. The funny things is I actually have much less fear speaking in front of a crowd or making a presentation.
So it seems to me that maybe you could create a gradient with social anxiety on one end, representing a marked increase in anxiety in social situations, and social phobia on the other end representing a different stage where there is a huge amount of fearful anticipation and avoidance. Of course there's also AvPD.
poster:hyperfocus
thread:911995
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090810/msgs/912469.html