Children and adolescents with social phobia; They have a marked and persistent fear of encountering unfamiliar people, or of one or more social or action situations in which others may be in the spotlight. The child/adolescent fears (or shows signs of anxiety) that he or she will act in a way that will embarrass him or her. In order to diagnose social phobia, this anxiety in children should be seen in environments where they encounter their peers. social phobia in children; Anxiety can be expressed as crying, grumpiness, freezing, or avoiding social situations with unfamiliar people. Children and adolescents know that their fears are excessive and unreasonable, although they are not very common at a young age. Children and adolescents with social phobia avoid or endure feared social or action situations with intense anxiety or distress. In order to make the diagnosis of social phobia, the symptoms must have persisted for at least 6 months. The individual’s avoidance, anxious anticipation, or distress in feared social or performance situations interferes with the person’s usual routine, occupational and/or educational functioning, social activities or relationships, or causes marked distress about having the phobia.
The incidence of social phobia is 3 times higher in the close relatives of children with social phobia. Chronic intrafamilial conflicts, separations, losses, difficulties in learning and school success, overprotective attitude towards children, warning the child about being consistently compliant, approving every behavior of the child (not facing critical direction), inability to teach how to cope with social environments are also factors for social phobia. poses a significant risk.
The prevalence of social phobia is 1% in children and 5-10% in adolescents. It is 2 times more common in girls than boys. The period of emergence is usually in the first to middle adolescence.
In social environments; Vegetative symptoms such as flushing, chills, heart palpitations, trembling in hands, sweating, headache, dizziness, shortness of breath, abdominal pain, nausea and need for micturition may be seen. The need to avoid and escape affects the person. They do not make enough eye contact or they hesitate to make it. They cannot speak in social situations, they are inhibited. Social phobia can also occur in children as tantrums, unlike adults.
45% of social phobia has a chronic course. When the childhood of adults with social phobia was evaluated, it was found that approximately 50% of them had a history of social phobia. If untreated, decrease in school success, school phobia, avoidance of age-specific social activities, feeling inadequate in social environments, lack of self-confidence, symptoms of somatoform disorder, depression and suicide attempts can be seen. Early onset of social phobia, comorbid mood disorders such as depression, anxiety disorders and alcohol/substance addiction are negative factors for the course of the disease.
In the treatment of social phobia;
1. Psychopharmacological support
2. Gaining social skills to the child
3. Providing cognitive restructuring in children and adolescents
4. Ability to cope with anxiety
5. Addressing anxiety-enhancing attitudes in the family
6. Not applying a very protective attitude in raising children and adolescents
7. Ensuring that parents with anxiety disorders also receive support, , is important.
