The doctor just prescribed 50mg of zoloft to my son for social anxiety disorder. I know that zoloft is approved for people over the age of 18 with this condition. What about children under the age of 18. Isn’t 50mg a little excessive for a child. So anyone with any answers or similar experiences please let me know. Thanks so much!
I would never give a child that young medication like that. Let him be a kid. Don’t give it to him. I say get a second opinion.
If the sufferer had *not* been subjected to teasing and criticizing or the verbal and physical abuse, would they still suffer from social anxiety and low self-esteem?
I don’t think so. They learned the behavior and therefore were trained to behave that way. All of the various and repeated attacks weakened their self-esteem and damaged their self-image. They see themselves as damaged. When it is beaten in to you day after day, you begin to believe it.
I hope this is making some kind of sense.
Characteristics of Bullying Victims
* Kids who typify victims of bullying appear to be anxious, self-doubting, and insecure.
* Bullying victims frequently report very low levels of self-esteem and a lack of confidence.
* Victims rarely stand up for themselves when confronted face-to-face by bullies.
* Bullying victims may lack social skills and friends and are often raised in overprotective households.
* Victims often are physically undersized and weaker than their peers.
* Contrary to popular belief, physical characteristics such as obesity, dress, or wearing eyeglasses have not been shown to be factors that correlate with victimization.
Victims suffer long-term consequences .
* Students who are bullied often see school as an unsafe and unhappy place. Seven percent of American eighth graders will stay home from school at least once a month because of bullying.
* Students who are already social outcasts may find themselves even lonelier when they become victims of bullying.
* Being a victim of bullying brings consequences that can follow an individual well into adulthood, including depression, low self-esteem, other mental health disorders, and, in rare cases, even suicide.
* Studies have found that victims who were bullied as children are more likely to be bullied as teenagers and adults.
Not in every case. This cause and effect is not justifiable. There are many people who have been bullied and the bullying gave them to guts to become tough and resilient. On the other hand some people are affected by it and it can ruin their self-esteem. I have a friend who was viciously physically abused by their father but their self-image remained intact. The abuse prompted them to not give in and to become tough. A lot of it depends on parents. If a parent teaches a child how to face adversity they will be resilient and vice versa. Emotional support when dealing with adversity can make the difference in someone’s life.
I suffer from social phobia/ anxiety. I dread leaving my house and even ordanrily mixing with people is stressful
I was formerly on zoloft and lagactl but I feel very insecure after taking lagactl so I’m off it.
I still feel I need extra to the zoloft( actually sertraline which is the generic name)
If you know of any superb treatments, pls let me have them , whether medication or therapy. I prefer medication though!
Aristotlelus,
I can relate to how you feel. I used to suffer from anxiety/agoraphobia.
I was thinking too much. I had anxiety attacks when I had to speak in public. Or when there would be more than a few people around me in the same room. It was something that started when I was a teenager and that lasted over years and subsequently affected my career until not so long ago. Looking back, I feel I should have taken action way earlier. But anyway, that’s the past.
At some point, I was prescribed medicine but I wanted to avoid that because of the side effects (just my point of view but you should think about it). That’s when I discovered a program that cured me. It is a 100% natural method. You can find it here:
http://www.stop-your-anxiety-now.com
The key of that technique is that you should no longer fear the thought of anxiety. You know what I mean? You are thinking too much. You have to get out of that loop.
Tackle the issue ASAP. You can get rid of it – others have, I have.
Good luck!
I’m 16 with a pretty bad case of social anxiety. My mom has agreed to use medication, though she is alittle hesitant because of repots that this type of medication gives suicidal thoughts to people under 18.
I’ve been to therapy and though it gave me some good pointers that I use everyday to help me through the social part of my social anxiety, it doesn’t get rid of that "worried" filling that I can sometimes feel continuously. That feeling actually consumes my whole mood at times. The therapy has only helped with talking to people, and even then it has only helped alittle.
But I would like to know more about this type of medication before I actually take it. I’m sure my doctor will tell me some stuff too, but how does it actually work? How will it make me feel better?
Hello ‘Dreamer’,
The fact that you have social anxiety disorder is comforting. Your diorder is considered part of a neurotic condition (disordered mood) as opposed to a psychotic condition (disordered thinking/thoughts). The former is easier to treat some believe, and is a less severe diagnosis partly because your symptoms of acute and chronic anxiety in public or social situations is a less severe defecit in functioning than bi-polar disorder (manic depression) or schizophrenia (thought disorder).
Don’t mind the language, so far your symptoms are less severe and obvious to the ‘man on the street’ than other more serious mental disorders. Before we talk about any specific drugs used to treat your disorder, let’s understand two things:
1. Some drugs prescribed by psychiatrists or other medical expert benefit more than one type of mental helath condition. So some drugs used to treat bi-olar disorder also work with schizophrenia, some drugs used to treat depression also have an anti-anxiety effect.
2. Anti-anxiety medications are generally necessary when cognitive/psycho-therapy alone is not successful in enabling the socially anxious person to feel ‘normal’ i.e. much less anxious in social situations (around people or requiring successful performance on some task, like a test, dealing with school, talking up in class, relationships etc).
Some times persons with social anxiety are not completely diagnosed, meaning they are demonstating panic, phobia or signs of a genralized anxiety condition which is persistent worrying or anxiety regarless of whether the socially anxious person is facing a challenge of not. In other words the socially anxious person may have several symptoms which need to go into remission.
Drugs along with therapy further enable symptoms to go into remission or disappear altogether, at least where neurotic disorders are concerned and often cases of psychosis as well. Where social anxiety is concerned the etiology/cause/mechanism of the disorder suggests:
1. A genetic predispostion which strongly suggests aberrant/untypical gene activity at some point of the developmental process or after birth.
2. This in turn creates the biological conditions (defective genes), along with your environment/family life or other circumstances to foster the presentation of mental illness in your case, social anxiety disorder.
What these drugs do is to powerfully alter the unusal symptoms and so tranquilize the nervous system, alter diseased neural pathways, chemical activity in the brain spinal cord and peripheral nervous system activity. In social anxiety you may have an overactive pituitary gland and hypothalamus which along with the endocrine system creates the feelings of fright or flight by producing an overactivity of the endocrine hormone called adrenalin, (the fear hormone). A persistent sense of worry is also linked to thought processes at the subconscious and conscious levels in the brain. Again the drug(s) your doctor will prescribe will function to quiet down your nervous system, make you feel more relaxed and generally happier in terms of your mood generally. You however need to alwasy take your drugs and at the appropriate time in order to reap the maximum benefit from them (and despite any unpleasant side effects tha tmay occur). In most cases they are not a permanent cure and some symptoms can return once you stop drug therapy. More specifically the drugs either increase or prevent the the over-production or under-production of certain chemicals in your brain which migrate between neural cells and neural complexes carrying messages. The cells in the brain are called neurons. Two major neurochemicals tageted in your brain for stabilization of their function are dopamine and seratonin. (please read up on these neuro-brain chemicals) because they do influence your mood and so have to be stabilized.
Hope this helps and was not too medical. Please read a psychology book and look at the section/chapter on abnormal behaviour/psychology. It should help you with easy reading on your condition. I don’t have the time to talk to you about depression i.e. clinical depression. The drug(s) prescribed for you will effectively treat your depression as well as the anxiety. Everybody gets anxious at some time or another so you can improve and possibly eventually
come off your meds. 40% of persons or more also have a down time or depressive episode at some point in their lives . So clinical depression also can disappear. Again talk with your doctor if you feel comfortable to do so. Part of your healing will depend on educating yourself as best you can.
Best of luck and God bless,
Barry H
Click here: http://ForgetPanic.com Learn the most powerful technique to overcome panic and anxiety attacks.
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If you have social anxiety it means that you’re taking life and social interactions too seriously, you won’t live forever, add a spark of humor to your awkward social situation and you’ll end up laughing at it instead of beating yourself up about it.
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Some tips on overcoming social anxiety Disorder.
I will make another version of this video with relaxing slow music too ^ ^ .
I recommend:
1. Dr. Thomas A. Richards Overcoming Social Anxiety step by step (cds and workbook)
For other books, do a search on amazon for “social anxiety” and see which books have the best feedback – they are likely to be the most helpfuL!
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Drexel University offers a free online treatment program for adults (ages 18-65) suffering from social anxiety disorder, as part of a research study. The therapy will occur through an online program called Second Life, which is user-friendly and easy to learn. This program can be downloaded for free onto your computer. If interested please see http://www.drexel.edu/coas/psychology/anxietyresearch/secondlife.html
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When did I first find out I had social anxiety disorder?
What were some personal experiences?
It might be confusing that I found out when I was a junior in high school, yet I had it for more than eight years. The thing is, for the longest time I just flooded myself and faced my fears – socializing with immense anxiety – and then it came to the point where I couldn’t fake it anymore. Hope that clears it up. 
Please ask questions, or comment so that I know to add you and watch your own videos!!
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This is part one of a bajillion videos I’ve made talking about SA so if you need an outlet at the end of the day *subscribe* and I’ll keep you company! :O)
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Children and teens with Social Anxiety Disorder have an excessive fear of social and/or performance situations. They are overly concerned that they may do something embarrassing or humiliating, or others will think badly of them. These children constantly feel “on stage,” which can lead to a great deal of self-consciousness.
- social anxiety disorder usually begins in adolescence.
- It can develop suddenly after a stressful or humiliating experience or slowly over time.
- An equal number of girls and boys experience social anxiety.
- Some of the problems associated with social anxiety disorder include poor school performance, low confidence in social situations, trouble developing and maintaining friendships, and depression.
Click below to read more…
Anxiety BC – http://anxietybc.com/parent/social.php
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