Fear of people: causes of occurrence and methods of combating

How does the disease manifest?

Symptoms of social phobia are divided into 3 groups:

1. cognitive;
2. behavioral;
3. physiological.

Social phobes experience real torment over how others will judge them. Patients are overly focused on how they look and what outside observers think about their behavior. These people try too hard to make a good impression on everyone, but they are convinced that they cannot do it. So, if, when meeting a new person, the patient accidentally stumbles in his speech, then immediately after that he will begin to experience severe anxiety and think about how ridiculous this episode might seem to the interlocutor. People suffering from social phobia replay in their heads hundreds of times possible developments of events that cause them great anxiety, and analyze what could have been done wrong. Obsessive thoughts do not leave the patient’s head for several days or weeks after the situation that provoked stress. Such people have an inadequate idea of ​​themselves and their abilities; they see themselves in the worst possible light. According to some data, social phobes store much more negative events in their memory than ordinary people.

A strong reluctance to make a bad impression leads to the fact that the patient begins to experience a fear of communicating with people and avoids any social interaction. A person refuses to go on a date, an interview or a party, and is afraid of communicating with strangers. Patients are also afraid to look into the eyes of their interlocutor or accidentally meet the gaze of a stranger. This condition should not be confused with shyness, since social phobia leads to serious problems in an individual’s life. The physiological symptoms of the disease are:

1. tears;
2. increased sweating (hyperhidrosis);
3. stupor;
4. nausea;
5. labored breathing;
6. trembling of limbs;
7. heart rhythm disturbance;
8. redness of the skin.

We recommend that you read: Eisoptrophobia - how to get rid of the fear of looking in the mirror?

Some individuals may experience a gait disorder - a constant worry about whether they are walking “correctly”, especially when this action is observed by a group of strangers. These symptoms are easily noticed by others, which further increases the anxiety and fear of social phobics.

Fear of communicating with people.

Greetings, Natalya!

“This cannot continue like this, I want to work, I desperately want to realize myself, but is it really possible to do this, with such twists and turns. . . Sorry it's all a mess. It's boiling. . ."

You are faced with several tasks: “I’m often depressed,” I cry when I’m alone, “I feel like a complete insignificance, worthless,” “I urgently need to go to work, my husband can’t handle it alone,” “I want to work,” “I’m desperate for self-realization.” To solve this problem, the main thing is your desire, the desire for change.

Of course, a way out of this situation is necessary, a set of measures is needed.

Unfortunately, many people are afraid to seek professional help, trying or not trying to cope with this or that problem on their own, thereby wasting time, precious time and aggravating the situation.

What can you do at this stage? Where to begin?

Try to decompose the “bunch of swirls” into several components, several subtasks.

Start with what is at arm's length, with what is nearby, or rather who is nearby. Your relationship with your husband and your husband. At this stage, you are “very ashamed in front of him.” Shame is not a feeling that is pleasant to go through life with. Shame is a feeling that burdens, burdens, fetters. Therefore, first, try to throw off the burden of the shackles of shame.

What does that require?

The right time for a conversation, for a simple, open conversation on your part with your husband. Tell your husband about your inner state, about your feeling of shame in front of him, about your fears and anxieties, about your difficulties and, above all, about your difficulties in communicating with people around you. Tell him about your desires and intentions.

What's next?

Learn to relax...

There are quite a large number of techniques, practices of relaxation, relaxation. Among them there are both very complex ones and those that anyone can do, be it at home, in the office, or on a bench in the park.

What does that require?

Daily practice for fifteen minutes a day and the result will not take long to arrive.

On the Internet you can choose what is closest to you.

You can try this one today:

1. Turn off all light sources (if it is evening) or curtain the windows with curtains.

2. Sit in a comfortable position, keeping your back straight.

3. Light a candle and place it at arm's length at eye level.

4. Focus your gaze on the tip of the candle flame, while trying to blink as little as possible. Your eyes may start to water while doing this technique, but this is a good thing (one of the reasons why this meditation technique helps improve vision).

5. Let the candle flame fill your consciousness. If distracting thoughts start to creep into your head, try to focus on the candle flame again.

6.After a few minutes, close your eyes and focus on the image of the flickering and dancing candle flame in your mind.

7. Open your eyes and take a few deep breaths.

What's next?

Learn to “love yourself as your neighbor”...every day, every minute, every second. In other words, learn to like yourself. Learn to love, like yourself, both “good” and “bad.” To love yourself means to accept yourself, not to be angry at your shortcomings, not to be angry with yourself for being angry with yourself...

What does that require?

To begin with, daily, repeated exercise “Praise-pat”

As often as possible during the day, “over trifles,” praise yourself, stroking your head mentally or with your hand. Why should you praise yourself? Yes for everything! Make a list of trifles yourself. In principle, this is another one of the exercises of the current day.

What's next?

Find a specialist who would help you professionally, including helping to expand the social sphere of your life, helping you to be comfortable and free in any social situations,

I wish you success!

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Causes of the disorder

There are several reasons for the development of the disease.

• Genetic inheritance. Studies have shown that the likelihood of a child developing social phobia increases 2-3 times if his loved ones suffer from the same disorder.
• Features of the functioning of the nervous system. 10-15% of people have a temperament characterized by fear of the outside world and strong concentration on themselves and their feelings.
• Negative past experiences. The development of social phobia can be facilitated by negative communication experiences (humiliation, psychological bullying, rejection by peers, physical or psychological violence). If a child has been subjected to excessive care or criticism from adults in the family, he may also experience fear of communicating with strangers.

Studies have revealed that a child who is not popular with his peers has a fairly high level of fear of being perceived negatively. Typically, children with social phobia receive more negative reactions from peers, which can subsequently lead to avoidance of social interaction.

Ways to fight

People's fear can take on a pathological form when a person cannot make contact with people and is afraid to even leave the house. In such a situation, you cannot do without taking medications, as well as psychotherapy.

1. The specialist will prescribe medications that will calm the patient’s nervous system.
2. Cognitive behavioral therapy is applicable.
3. Social skills will be practiced, with the therapist focusing on relaxation.
4. The specialist will prescribe goals for combating the phobia and help you work through every step on the path to recovery. The psychotherapist will teach you how to engage in self-regulation and self-analysis.
5. Automotive training aimed at overcoming obsessive fears can help.
6. Art therapy will also be useful, which will allow you to use art to depict your phobia and try to overcome it.
7. Group therapy has worked well, where people with similar problems try to improve their social communication skills.

It is important to understand that many fears are born in childhood, so the task of parents is to monitor the child’s condition. If you see the first alarm bells, act immediately. If you want to prevent the development of anthropophobia in your child, respect his opinion and protect him from aggression and negative shocks.

Traditional medicine methods

If you have already been interested in how to treat anthropophobia, then you probably know that there are no special medications intended for this purpose. Antipsychotics and neuroleptics may be prescribed, which simultaneously harm other body systems and have significant side effects. Doctors themselves often suggest using traditional medicine. However, self-medication in this case is unacceptable.

1. Beetroot juice. Calming influences the human condition. Take a third of a glass of freshly squeezed juice and put it in the refrigerator for three hours to steep. After this, mix in a one to one ratio with honey. The finished medicine must be consumed throughout the day, taken half an hour before meals.
2. Mint infusion. Take a tablespoon of dried plant leaves per glass of boiling water, leave to steep for 15 minutes, then filter. If necessary, add honey. This drug is taken at night.
3. Motherwort juice. This plant is an excellent sedative. The grass is crushed, the juice is squeezed out of it, and thirty drops are drunk three times a day.
4. Ginseng. Is a stimulant of the nervous system. Use crushed root and leaves in equal proportions. Twenty grams of the resulting mixture is poured into 200 ml of boiling water, left to steep for half an hour, and then filtered. The medicine should be taken one teaspoon in the morning.
5. Carrot juice. You need to drink freshly squeezed, a glass every day.
6. Melissa infusion. For three hundred ml of boiling water, take one and a half tablespoons of the crushed plant (its leaves), leave to infuse for 15 minutes, and then filter. You need to drink half a glass three times a day.
7. Hawthorn. A tablespoon of the plant (its fruits) is ground, poured with boiling water (one glass), and left to steep for two hours, preferably in a thermos. After this, filter. You need to take two tablespoons before meals three times a day.

Treatment

The most effective method of treating the disorder is cognitive behavioral psychotherapy. As the patient works with a specialist, he gradually gets used to situations that involve the implementation of certain actions and cause him fear. This method helps restore the patient’s self-esteem, the formation of adequate self-esteem, and the correct attitude towards people’s reactions to their behavior. The patient must form new attitudes when assessing events that cause anxiety and eliminate physiological symptoms. If a social phobia categorically refuses psychotherapy, medication may be used, but such treatment is more aimed at relieving the patient of the symptoms of the disease.

We recommend that you read: Fear of riding in an elevator - how to cope with fear?

For a person who does not suffer from social phobia, but notices some psychological or physiological symptoms of a fear of communicating with people, psychologists advise communicating more, learning to be a good listener, developing a sense of humor and trying not to get hung up on what the interlocutor thinks.

Forms

The fear of people is called antopophobia. A person may experience fear not of all people, but of certain groups. Based on this, the forms of this fear are distinguished.

1. Absolute fear of people. Attempts to make contact with such a person or invade his personal space cause negative emotions and a feeling of discomfort.
2. Fear of certain people who remind you of events in the past, of trauma caused, for example, by an elderly, overweight or drunk person.
3. Ochlophobia. Fear arises in the presence of a crowd. For example, a situation where a person finds himself in a crush inside a vehicle.
4. Fear of strangers. A person can communicate comfortably with his immediate environment, but at the same time experiences fear when strangers approach.
5. Xenophobia. Fear arises in relation to people who are in some way different from the person himself, for example, skin color, height.
6. Fear of representatives of certain professions. For example, when a person previously had some serious illness, he had to end up in a hospital, endure a serious shock, pain, but now the health workers will cause fear.