Do you have a child who’s excessively self-conscious in public or at social gatherings? Are you wondering if he or she has social anxiety disorder (SAD) or is just shy?
An estimated 9.1% of adolescents (13-18 years old) in the United States have social anxiety disorder. Prevalence is higher for females than males. That means there is a 1 in 10 chance your child has SAD.
But how do you know if they do or not? There are certain signs and symptoms to watch out for. Read on to see what SAD is and how to diagnose social anxiety in children.
SAD or Social Phobia
SAD in children goes beyond just being ‘shy’.
Children with social anxiety disorder will feel such excessive self-consciousness and worry so much about being judged negatively by others that they will stop doing things they need or want to do.
They are extremely fearful of embarrassing themselves.
You must be thinking, isn’t everyone afraid of embarrassing themselves? Yes, that’s true.
But socially anxious children can be so afraid of embarrassing themselves, that they stop doing day-to-day tasks like eating in public, or going to the washroom in public, much to their detriment.
A quick note about generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) — children with GAD are anxious about and avoid situations in which they worry they will not be able to perform perfectly.
They will also seek reassurance from the people around them that they are doing well, and that they aren’t doing anything wrong. It’s more about perfectionism for them rather than being afraid of social situations.
Social Anxiety Symptoms
There are two kinds of social anxiety disorders to keep in mind.
- Performance-related SAD — where children worry about speaking in public or trying out for a team
- Social situations related SAD — fear of social situations, in general, causing the child to hate going to school, avoid eating in public and meet new people
The child will start experiencing symptoms of fear and anxiety well in advance of the event. They might start experiencing physical symptoms, like shaking, sweating, flushing, and shortness of breath.
They might also ask questions like, ‘what if I do something stupid?’ or ‘what if I say the wrong thing?’
These symptoms might look like it would be pretty easy to know if your child has social anxiety or not, but children with SAD are great at hiding their debilitating fear and anxieties.
The child with SAD might themselves notice, somewhere between age 8 and 15, that they have a serious problem with social situations, but their parents might not notice anything, because they hide their anxieties so well.
Social Anxiety in Kids
If you have a painfully shy child and you are worried that they have social anxiety disorder, start evaluating their social phobia and judging whether it affects the quality of their life adversely or not.
The following are some good questions to ask:
- Does their social phobia interfere with their ability to function socially?
- Do they miss school or school events because of their shyness?
- Do they avoid sleepovers or other social gatherings with their friends because of their social anxiety?
- Do they worry constantly about doing something stupid or embarrassing in public?
- Do they avoid eating in public or going to the restroom in public?
- Do they display any physical symptoms like sweating, shaking, or trembling when their social anxiety is triggered (or tantrums and crying in younger children)?
- Do they avoid social situations or display intense distress at having to deal with them?
If you can answer yes to most of these questions, you might have a child with SAD. But this alone isn’t enough to diagnose a child with SAD.
To meet diagnostic criteria, the anxiety must occur in settings with peers as well as adults and must last for 6 months or more.
Social Anxiety Treatment
It has been shown that SAD is more common in children with a first-degree relative who has the disorder. Thus, there is a genetic component to this disorder, as much as an environmental component.
If you have socially anxious yourself, as a parent, you might be modeling socially anxious tendencies in your child without knowing it.
Keeping this in mind, there are two different treatment models available for social anxiety in children.
- Psychotherapy – CBT (cognitive-behavioral therapy) teaching children coping skills to deal with their anxiety and to think through their anxious thought patterns
- Pharmacological (Medications) – Using SSRIs, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors can help ease the symptoms of anxiety in children helping them deal better with social situations
- A combination of the two above
Some Points To Remember About SAD In Children
A lot of parents assume (wrongly) that their children will just grow out of this phase of shyness and therefore, don’t seek help for their child.
It’s important to get your child diagnosed properly because if left untreated, your child could suffer from social isolation, depression, and chronic anxiety as adults.
Another impactful consequence of not getting your child diagnosed is that they might start using alcohol as adolescents to ease their anxiety before a stressful event and get addicted to alcohol in the process.
It could lead to further substance abuse problems.
Remember that anxiety and stress are a normal part of life, and no matter how hard you try, you cannot shield your child from such situations.
In fact, the more you avoid these situations, the worse they will become at dealing with stressful situations when they do happen.
It’s far more important to help your child understand how to healthily deal with stress and anxiety through CBT and other therapies.
Social Anxiety in Children Is a Real Issue and Needs To Be Diagnosed and Treated Properly
It’s important to diagnose SAD in children accurately and get treatment sooner rather than later. Searching for mental health services in the Minneapolis area? Look no further. Steps for Change offers counseling & psychotherapy services done by passionate professionals. Check us out today!
