Can a
teenager develop social phobia?
Social phobia is not only limited to adults but is also seen in
children and teenagers. Social phobia first manifests itself during teenage years and progresses.
Teenagers affected with this disorder often avoid age appropriate social
activities like attending parties, dating or eating out.
Women tend
to be slightly more afflicted with this disorder than men. Overall, social phobia is most common in Caucasian females who are well educated. Social phobia is common in all cultures and ethnic groups.
People who have social phobia also tend to have other co existing psychiatric disorders like depression, attention deficit disorder, separation anxiety disorder and OCD tendencies.
In some
cases, social phobia is the cause of suicidal symptoms and depression. In children, social phobia can often lead to discriminating mutism or be a precursor to depression. Evidence indicates that untreated social phobia increases the lifetime risk of depression and can even lead to substance or alcohol abuse. Most people are
aware that they have this disorder but for some unknown reason are
afraid to
seek help.
