27 Sep Social Anxiety Disorder Treatment

“Pressure” by pagedooley is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Social anxiety disorder is thought to affect around 1 in 8 people, and is more than just being shy. The condition often strikes at important moments in people’s life and usually leads to a significant reduction in their quality of life.

A new study finds that cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is more effective and the benefits continue after the initial treatment has finished.

The study, which is published in The Lancet Psychiatry, analysed 101 separate clinical trials, which examined different types of medications and talking therapies for social anxiety disorder (Mayo-Wilson et al., 2014).

Evan Mayo-Wilson, the study’s lead author, said:

People with this disorder can experience severe impairment, from shunning friendships to turning down promotions at work that would require increased social interaction. Now that we know what works best, we need to improve access to psychotherapy for those who are suffering.

The studies involved in the analysis had a total of 13,164 participants, all of whom were suffering from long-standing and severe social anxiety.

Of these, around 9,000 received a pill, which was either a placebo or a real antidepressant, typically an SSRI (a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, like Prozac or Zoloft).

The remaining 4,000 or so were given access to psychological therapy.

The Sheffield CBT Practice has a wealth of experience of treating social phobia and in helping people reach their short and long term goals.

We have helped a range of clients from university students who have struggled in social situations, professional men and women who’s careers have been halted due to a fear of interviews and public speaking and individuals who would like to meet a partner but fear social interaction.