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People with social phobia can find it difficult to make friends, but their belief that they make friends differently from others is wrong, experts say.
Social phobia is a serious deviation that has nothing to do with ordinary shyness. Every time a person has to deal with the fear of meeting strangers. Constant stress, as well as the fear of being rejected or misunderstood, encourages a person to avoid any social contact.
Approximately 12% of people in Europe and the US suffer from various forms of social phobia. The well-known fear of speaking in public is one of the manifestations of the disease, but in more serious cases it comes to unwillingness to have any contact with people.
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- How do you build relationships with others?
Another question is how does a person with social phobia communicate (make friends) with already familiar people? Researchers from Washington University in St. Louis (USA) found that the fear of new acquaintances does not affect the quality of subsequent relationships. “People with social phobia find it harder to get along with others, but the quality of friendship does not suffer from this,” says psychologist Thomas Rodebaugh, co-author of the study. “A new study proves that they are able to maintain friendships just as those of us who do not have this disorder do.”
The scientists studied a group of 112 participants. Each of them was diagnosed with the presence or absence of social phobia. The subjects completed a series of psychological tests designed to assess the quality of their friendships. Each member brought a friend (with whom they were not romantically involved) with them.
“People with social phobia rated their ability to make friends below average, but their friends saw the situation differently,” says Thomas Rodebauch. – They said something like: “He (she) is different (s), but not worse at all.” Younger participants in the experiment and those who had recently made new friends were especially likely to misperceive themselves.
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The researchers are confident that the data obtained as a result of the experiment will help people with social phobia realize that, contrary to their own prejudices, they can make good friends. “Maintaining friendships is very important because a lack of social connections can make a person more vulnerable to illness and depression,” says Thomas Rodebauh.
In addition, it is important to understand that social phobia is curable. Studies show that, for example, cognitive psychotherapy is as effective as medication.. “Modern treatment focuses on making people with social phobia see that they get along with people better than they think,” concludes Thomas Rodebauch.
Подробнее см. T. Rodebaugh et al. «Self and friend’s differing views of social anxiety disorder’s effects on friendships», Journal of Abnormal Psychology, November 2014.