Anthropophobia can be best defined as the fear of people in crowded situations, but can also go beyond and leave the person uncomfortable when being around just one person. Conditions vary depending on the person.
Have you or someone you know ever felt like this? It’s a phobia, and it’s normal it’s called social anxiety.The good news is that social anxiety is not only treatable, but the treatment is also successful. Social phobia no longer needs to be a life-long, devastating condition.
Social anxiety is the third largest psychological problem in the United States today…very few people understand this.
I, dealt with it all my life. Many people, like myself see it as a norm and never seek help for their condition. I prefer to think of it as kind of a coping mechanism. I’ve always had this thing about checking my surroundings before I walk outside of my apartment. One, being I am a woman and anything can happen, and two sometimes I really don’t feel like being approached at the moment. Everyone has their days where they just don’t feel like interacting with anyone or as little people as possible.
Many times people with social anxiety simply must be alone — closeted — with the door closed behind them. Even when they’re around familiar people, a person with social phobia may feel overwhelmed and have the feeling that others are noticing their every movement and critiquing their every thought. They feel like they are being observed critically and that other people are making negative judgments about them. I know I feel that way at times.
Making the situation more difficult is that social anxiety does not come and go like some other physical and psychological problems. If you have social phobia one day…you have it every day for the rest of your life, unless you receive the appropriate therapy.
Because few socially-anxious people have heard of their own problem, and have never seen it discussed on any of the television talk shows, they think they are the only ones in the whole world who have these terrible symptoms. Therefore, they must keep quiet about them. It would be awful if everyone realized how much anxiety they experienced in daily life. Unfortunately, without some kind of education, knowledge and treatment, social anxiety continues to wreak havoc throughout their lives. Adding to the dilemma, when a person with social phobia finally gets up the nerve to seek help, the chances that they can find it are very, very slim.
There is a better life for all people with social anxiety. Without treatment, social phobia is a torturous emotional problem; with treatment, its bark is worse than its bite. Add to this that the current research is clear that cognitive-behavioral therapy is highly successful in the treatment of social anxiety. In fact, people who are unsuccessful are the ones who are not persistent in their therapy and who won’t practice simple routines at home — they are the ones who give up. If a person is motivated to end the years of crippling anxiety, then cognitive-behavioral treatment provides methods, techniques, and strategies that all combine to lessen anxiety and make the world a much more enjoyable place. Many of us have been through the crippling fears and constant anxiety that social phobia produces — and have come out healthier and happier on the other side.
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