Social Anxiety Disorder Awareness
By: Web Producer
Updated: April 10, 2008
Mental Health Experts Raise Awareness About Social Phobias
(Miami, FL) -- Mental health officials are trying to raise awareness about a condition known as Social Anxiety Disorder.
Its estimated more than 15-million Americans suffer from an intense fear of social situations and often avoid people to keep from embarrassing themselves.
Dr. Jerilyn Ross with the Anxiety Disorders Association of America says her organization recently conducted a survey and found the condition can wreak havoc on a persons romantic and social life.
Of those questioned, 35-percent said the disorder caused them to avoid intimacy and 55-percent acknowledged it kept them from having any close friends.
Ross adds that many people who have social phobias often wait ten years or more before seeking help.
She points out that while social anxiety disorder can never be fully cured, it can be treated with the help of a mental health professional.
(Copyright 2008 by Newsroom Solutions)
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