Research

Methodolo
gy

Anushka Harish Salian

BD/14/706
Fashion Communication Semester
4
Social Anxiety Disorder
Objective
To determine whether educational institutes should
identify social anxiety disorders and take active
part in treating this disorder.

Hypothesis
I would like to show that social anxiety disorder is
just as serious as other issues recognized by
educational institutes like dyslexia and ADHD as it
hinder the growth and development of a student
and that these institute should take step to help
students deal with this disorder.

Design methodology
1. Understand the problems faced by people who
experience social anxiety disorder through
research.
2. Assessing how many people are affected by
this disorder through questionnaires and
secondary research.
3. Find out how this disorder has affected
academic life.
4. Step that can be taken to help students deal
with this disorder.

5. Based on the research provide argument on

why educational institutes should take efforts
to help their students deal with this disorder.
Research design
The research design applied is cross-sections study
which is a type of observational study that involves
the analysis of data collected from a population, or
a representative subset, at one specific point of
time.

Article 1
Title What is it like to live with Social Anxiety?
Author Thomas A Richards, Ph.D.
This article by Thomas A Richards, a Psychologist
and the Director of Social Anxiety Institute, talks
about the lives of people with Social Anxiety
Disorder. It starts of with how they feel on a daily
basis, how this is different from what people who
dont suffer from this disorder feel and why they
generally dont admit they have a problem. The
article then moves on to describe various everyday
situations that people with this disorder struggle
with and how, with a full description of the persons
thought process. It the mentions how the persons
behavior changes according to the situation and
the people around. After this it states facts about
the disorder and then concludes with ways the
disorder can be treated.
For most of the part, the article does a pretty good
job of helping the reader step into the shoes of a
person with Social Anxiety Disorder and experience
everything they go through from they way they
think to the way they feel. It bluntly showcases

normal scenarios where overthinking, fear and

anxiety cause the person to create problems for
oneself where they didnt exist. It also addresses
the acceptance issues that usually cause affected
people to isolate themselves from people. The
article tries to gain the readers sympathy and
create awareness towards Social Anxiety Disorder.
It also emphasizes a very important part of ones
life that this disorder affects the professional life.
Not being able to communicate with authorities
and people considered superior could lead to
hindering of professional and personal
development. It also educates the reader that the
people with this disorder arent ignorant or
irrational people. They know very well that the
fears are irrational yet they arent able to act on it
and shake the feeling of being analyzed and
judged by people around them.
The article also sheds light on how little society
and even professionals such as doctors,
psychologists, therapists and health care
professionals know about this disorder even though
it affects a considerable amount of people in the
world. This shows that even if the affected person
was willing to look for help the chances of him
finding it are very slim.
Also being a deep psychological problem, Social
Anxiety Disorder does not just go away in a few
days. It is a disorder that is very hard to treat due
to it being misdiagnosed most of the time but it is
still possible. A cognitive-behavioral technique
works best in getting rid of the disorder in the long
run. The article beautifully concludes by giving
hope to people suffering from this disorder and
reassures them that life can get better with help.

Article 2
Title - Social Anxiety Disorder and the risk of
Depression
Authors Murray B. Stein, MD; Martina Fuetsch,
MagRerNat; Nina Muller, DiplPsych; Michael Hofler,
DiplStat; Roselind Lieb, PhD; Hans-Ulrich Wittchen,
PhD
Prior to the writing of this article a study was
conducted to determine if Social Anxiety Disorder
and Depression were somehow linked to each
other. Data was collected from adolescents and
young adults and it was concluded that Social
Anxiety disorder is an important predictor of
depressive disorders.
The article talks about the relation between Social
Anxiety Disorder and depressive disorders. It states
that Social Anxiety Disorder is the most common
disorder existing simultaneously with Depressive
disorders. It generally precedes it by a few years.
The article makes a very important point that if
Social Anxiety Disorder could be detected at a
early stage in life and treated it could drastically
reduce the chances of the person developing a
depressive disorder later in life. Also it suggests
using the extent of Social Anxiety Disorder to
determine the severity of the subsequent
depressive disorder. But how are the two related? It
is further explained that social anxious teens are
more likely to develop self esteem issues that
lesser social anxious teens. Also these teens tend
to isolate themselves and dont make a lot of
friends. This low self-esteem and isolation in a few
years grows into depression. The article ends with
stating that if Social Anxiety Disorder could be
treated at an early stage it would reduce the

possibility of depression which would help deal

with a huge social issue Suicide.

Article 3
Title - Social anxiety disorder goes beyond
occasional nervousness
Author - Stephen Whiteside, Ph.D., Psychology
This article by Stephen Whiteside tries to
differentiate between people who experience
shyness and nervousness and people who suffer
from Social anxiety disorder. It is very informative
and clearly states the symptoms of Social anxiety
disorder and how many of the symptoms must be
present to differentiate between shyness and
Social anxiety disorder. People affected by Social
anxiety disorder are not just nervous in certain
situations but feel like they are being watched and
judged constantly. They are terrified of
interactions, which end up hindering their day-today functioning. Fear of judgment, embarrassment
and anxiety are few major symptoms. The article
also enlightens the reader about other symptoms
of Social anxiety disorder like sweating, heart
palpitation, blushing, confusion, clammy hands and
trembling due to fear and anxiety.
It sets an even more intense tone by talking about
how it impacts self-esteem and social skills.
To lighten up the mood the article mentions the
way Social anxiety disorder can be treated through
cognitive-behavioral therapy and how. The article
concludes with providing coping methods to deal
with Social anxiety disorder.