SOCIAL ANXIETY DISORDER IN TECH

Table Of Content

• Definition of Social Anxiety Disorder

• Symptoms Of Social Anxiety Disorder

• Causes Of Social Anxiety Disorder

• Effects of Social Anxiety Disorder In The Tech Ecospace

• Treatment Of Social Anxiety Disorder

• Summary

Definition of Social Anxiety Disorder

   Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) otherwise known as Social Phobia can be defined as the intense and persistent fear of being scrutinized, judged negatively and humiliated mainly in social situation. It causes isolation and a high degree of self-consciousness, at same instance the victim becomes scared of social interactions.

Most people tend to suffer from this and mistake it for being merely shy or being introverted by nature. Both are quite different, being shy we all at some point experience this but social phobia tends to disrupt one’s routine or at least “should be routine”. The mean age of onset is 10-13 years of age. It occurs more in the lives of females than in males especially adolescent females.

Symptoms Of Social Anxiety Disorder

There are certain edits which when seen are indicators of SAD, they are:

1. One which is almost always evident is panic attacks.
2. Intense fear of judgement from others.
3. Heightened self-consciousness.
4. Speech difficulty in social situations.
5. Low self-esteem.

Causes Of Social Anxiety Disorder

1. It can be caused by abuse of all kinds in the lives of children such as physical abuse (i.e a victim of bully), emotional abuse and the rest.
2. It can be caused by overcontrolling parents.
3. It can be hereditary.

Effects of SAD In The Tech Ecospace

1. Imposter Syndrome: This is the doubt people have about their skills or talents and the succeeding fear of being exposed as fraud or fake.
   In the Tech Eco-space, using twitter and linkedIn as case studies, one might experience this a lot especially in situations where people often post their works and projects. Looking at yours it seems as though yours it’s fake so by that you feel reluctant about making your skill known through your work because you fear being scrutinized by a random person on the platform. Meanwhile you might have skills more advanced than others but because you suffer from this no one will be able to know your stack and ability and would want to offer you a job.

2. Unavailability of Support Systems: Support Systems as defined by Merriam-webster is a network of people who provides an individual with practical and emotional support.
   Social anxiety causes an individual to isolate himself/herself and by that depriving them the availability of friends and colleagues to help them on their journey to success. This happens well when one is new to tech and needs proper guidance and mentorship but due to SAD doesn’t relate with anyone rather isolates himself and goes on struggling and suffering from much confusion.

3. Difficulty In Landing a Tech Role: Due to the high degree of isolation expressed by SAD victims they tend to lack proper communication skills which when job hunting makes it difficult for them to get a job especially during interview processes when one is expected to plainly talk about themselves and their skills in a purely convincing way.
   There are other forms to this such as in the case of specific jobs where human interaction is needed rather than purely technical work (e.g Devrel and Devops). In these profession it is needful for one to have proper communication skills and also social intelligence.

4. Lying to protect self-image: This causes the behavioral pattern of an individual to tilt, when it comes to protecting self-image an individual suffering from SAD can go to the extent of lying just to falsely prove that he’s not as fake and phony as you would think. When faced with serious task to prove their claims they fail in it thereby faulting their work integrity.

5. Slow Growth Rate: Experience is the best teacher only when access to correction is made available. Growth in any field in tech takes learning, interaction and support from people around you.
   When one is afraid of being scrutinized Growth is impeded because the access to learning more from mistakes becomes almost impossible seeing that there’s no one to pass assessment on the appropriated work and make reviews on it. The individual not being exposed to social interactions will never know where he got it wrong in the project.

Treatment Of Social Anxiety Disorder

When treating social anxiety there are three major approaches to take
1) Therapy Session
2) Support Groups
3) Medications

1. Therapy Session: The therapy approach is carried out by a therapist having in it benefits such as granting an individual a safe space to talk and express fears and also having the time and patience to build healthier habits to deal with anxiety.
   Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a talk therapy focused on modifying negative thoughts, behaviors and emotional responses linked to psychological distress. This approach has different forms in it such as the ACT which stands for Acceptance & Commitment Therapy, Psychological Flexibility, Exposure Therapy and also basically name-wise can be divided whereby having Cognitive Therapy and Behavioral therapy.
   Cognitive therapy also known as cognitive restructuring is used to help SAD victims restructure and change the distorted view of their social world thereby reducing the experience of anxiety captured. In exposure therapy the individual gradually works up to facing the situations that spike up fear with the help of a therapist and in a safe environment.

2. Support Groups: This is a safe space where an individual gets to learn from the experiences of others seeing that they all are going through same issue.
   In a support group you get to learn coping techniques and also get to role-play together. This is one of the first medication I
   can recommend based on preference, it’s a small space to kickstart your social journey.

3. Medications: There are various medications that can help manage the symptoms of SAD and on the long run gets rid of it.
   There are three main forms of medication which are Antidepressants, Beta-blockers and Antianxiety medications.
   Antidepressants such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) is used for treating SAD. They’re said to take noticeable effects after a long period of time, weeks counting into months. Some examples of an SSRI are the fluxotine, sertraline and paroxetine.
   Serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRI), which are another class of antidepressant is useful in treating SAD. Examples of this are duloxetine and venlafaxine.
   Antianxiety medication are used for quick action to reduce the symptoms of anxiety although doctors often recommend them as short-term medications as they can create dependencies.
   Beta-blockers help to block the physical effects of social anxiety such as sweating and rapid heartbeat. They’re used in treating a form of social anxiety called performance anxiety which has to do with anxiety before a public performance. These beta-blockers are used to control high blood pressure, taken in low doses they control the physical manifestation of the anxiety.
   Medication although useful also comes with side-effects as is peculiar to the person taking it. These side effects come during the first weeks while the body adjust to the drug, side effects such as headaches, nausea, insomnia and changes in sexual behaviour.

   Lastly to curb SAD it is needful for one grow in an environment where positivity is spread more than negativity because we’re shaped by what we give our eyes and ears to. Being around positive people can go a long way to curbing and eventually ridding it totally. Also it is needful to acknowledge positive events more than negative ones, it has a way of shaping your mind and forming memory through experiences.

Summary

Social anxiety has for long been a not so obvious mental disorder that has had it's effect silently destroying the lives of many first socially then other areas of one's life using it's social aspect as a hinge to the rest. This read is geared towards addressing the effects of SAD in the Tech industry and the treatment to better curb and rid it. By that it dishes out treatment approaches to take from ones gotten from the service of a therapist to the support groups to the medications taken whether antianxiety meds, antidepressants or beta-blockers which is used for controling one's blood pressure before a social exercise.