Social Anxiety

[ConstanceL]

Not really a TAAT, but a recent thread about school runs made me realise how many posters I've seen throughout the years on Mumsnet that have social anxiety.

Is this a hidden mental health crisis in our society - what has gone so wrong in modern life that so many people suffer from this insofar that they do things like put their children in after school club just to avoid the other parents at drop off and pick up? And why is this not more publicised as in where is the awareness campaign if so many people have been diagnosed with this condition? Or is Mumsnet over-representative of this condition and if so why is that?

www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/social-anxiety/

I used to avoid the other parents on the school run at my DCs old school, because I knew if I ran into them I would have to make small talk to be polite and I just couldn't be bothered. I don't think this is "social anxiety", surely?

I think in many (not all but many) cases we are increasingly medicalising/pathologising perfectly normal feelings and emotions. I see it with other parents at school who say that their child "has anxiety" because they react anxiously to a situation in which most people could be expected to react anxiously eg. the anticipation of being told off for something, being late for school, the first day of term. I see it at work when a junior told me she has "a condition called social anxiety" because she felt uncomfortable walking into a room full of people she didn't know.

I have wondered from time to time about people who write on a thread about feeling anxious in a new situation, and then say 'I have social anxiety' whether or not they are actually diagnosed with the condition, or is it something that people say flippantly like saying they have OCD because they like to keep their house clean?

A bit of both I think.

I do have social anxiety and have recently been diagnosed with ASD, the social anxiety is part of that.

The school run was a nightmare for me. Seeing someone I know on train to work used to fill me with dread - I just can't do small talk for half an hour. I've actually let trains go before to avoid bumping into someone.

I was diagnosed with social phobia - lucky enough to get some treatment for it. I can cope in small group situations where I have a reason to be there but I can't walk into a room full of people I don't know. Over the years I've developed strategies to help - eg relaxed neighbourhood party I might pick up a plate or bottle and circulate with that. If I know I'm going to have to walk into a group of people I'll often send DH along first so I know that there will be someone I know talking to people when I get there.