It's got you a bit worried, huh? Your teenager just doesn't seem to have any friends. Since you moved a few years ago you've never seen or heard about anyone at school who is really a friend of his.
You've also found out from his older sister that he eats lunch alone everyday and that he disappears out of sight at all other times. Despite usually having good grades, he got a C in his history class last semester because he didn't do the required oral report. He never even met with the group of students that he was assigned to be in.
All the things you are noticing are typical of .
Social Anxiety Disorder
typically show the major signs of social anxiety when they hit the teen years. Teenagers who suffer from this are withdrawn and terrified of interacting with their peers.
They will become physically ill at the thought of required social interactions-especially if these interactions aren't in extremely scripted situations. Class is hard enough, but the chaos of a party seems like a battle zone to them.
will have difficulty holding a conversation with their peers because they will tend to mumble, have difficulty making eye contact and withdraw into themselves. Even the most banal of interactions will provoke this reaction in them.
Early Childhood Signs of Social Anxiety Disorder
Because genetics plays a strong part, will show signs of their disposition to social anxiety in early childhood. Typically a child who will later suffer from social anxiety disorder in his or her teen years will be shy and fearful of new situation when very young.
At school age they will fear reading aloud in class, going to the black board, answering questions, etc. Outside of school they may show undue anxiety about going to birthday parties or extra curricular events like sports or theatrical performances. None of these are a sure sign of social anxiety disorder in itself, but taken together they are a good indicator of the possibility of it.
Genetics and Parental Models
Studies have shown that social anxiety children are likely to have biological parents who also suffered from the condition. This can be due to both genetics and modeling. So a child might inherit the predisposition to social anxiety and then have it reinforced by watching their parents' nervousness in social situations.
Treatment
There is hope. tends to respond well to both behavior modification therapy and to medication. Behavior modification largely involves gradual exposure to the social situations the child fears and attempts to prevent the negative behaviors that make it difficult for them to interact with other children.
So, typically the child in therapy will slowly be introduced to controlled situations with other children. The child will go on a carefully structured play date, or have another child of the same age over for lunch. Then they will go over for a less structured experience. The idea is to slowly get the child comfortable with less structured interactions.
At the same time the child learns how to avoid mumbling and looking away during conversation and other strategies for interacting more effectively with others.
Often, health care professionals will also give the child medication that will help them soothe their anxieties during this process. There is a bit of controversy whether this sort of medicating is the healthiest response in the long run but it is an effective method for many children.
Regardless of what you decide to do, it is a good idea to begin early. Like most of these types of conditions, the longer you wait the more entrenched they become. So keep on researching and look to begin taking action as soon as you decide on a proper treatment.
Tom Tait is focused on helping those with panic attacks. Here is more information on Anxiety Disorders in Children. There is even more information about Panic Attacks on the website Panic Attacks.
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