Social Anxiety Informative Speech

Words: 1644
Pages: 7

Right before giving a speech, a person often experiences sweaty palms, shaky knees, and a churning stomach. Most people experience these feelings in situations where they are in front of a large crowd or are the center of attention. For people afflicted by social anxiety disorder, this is a much more common occurrence. In attempt to better understand social anxiety disorder, people need to have knowledge of the condition. Through learning what it is, what causes it, what the symptoms are, what situations provoke it, how it affects people, and how to treat it. Before exploring all of these, a person must know what social anxiety disorder is. Social anxiety disorder is a condition that interferes with a person’s ability to socialize normally. …show more content…
“People with social anxiety are many times seen by others as being shy, quiet, backward, withdrawn, inhibited, unfriendly, nervous, aloof, and disinterested,” reports Dr. Richards (Richards, “Social Anxiety Fact Sheet”). Along with mannerisms, there are evident physical reactions. “The physiological manifestations that accompany social anxiety may include intense fear, racing heart, turning red or blushing, excessive sweating, dry throat and mouth, trembling (fear of picking up a glass of water or using utensils to eat), swallowing with difficulty, and muscle twitches, particularly around the face and neck,” Dr. Richards accounts (Richards, “What is Social Anxiety?”). As previously stated in the DSM-5, the condition is not a phase, but a lasting problem. Whilst among other people, an afflicted person would experience angst to an impractical degree. The DSM-5 lists severe, prolonged crying or tantrums, becoming physically immobilized, shrinking away from other people, extreme clinging, and not being able to speak in social situations as common behaviors for people with social anxiety disorder (“Social Anxiety Disorder”). In addition to symptoms, there are specific situations that often increase anxiety in prone