Phobias, social anxiety - fear of fear

Many in their comments write to me that they get very upset and frustrated with themselves about having panic attacks. While this is a natural reaction I think we have to look a little deeper at this frustration.
I believe the real frustration and self-anger experienced by many of us who suffer from social phobias or social anxiety stems from the fact that we recognise the illogical nature of the fear and that what we are really confronted with is the fear of the fear of a particular social situation. I am not really worried about giving a speech before 200 people tomorrow, I fear the fear of such an action. It is this gradual build up over time which is so unnerving and energy sapping that all we feel is frustration.
This is the tricky thing, I feel, about phobias and anxiety in general, we fear the fear of the situation and not the actual situation. Perhaps I am not making myself very clear?

Social phobia and panic attacks - 1 step at a time

In my view there is no short term cure for the problem of phobias and social anxiety. My advice:
- Seek medical help, you are far from alone,
- Confide in a friend or family member and stop the secrecy,
- no matter what you do take one step at a time,
- stop critcising yourself and lowering your self-esteem,
- find others on the Internet who have the same problems and talk about it.
Always bear in mind that Social anxiety is one of the main psychological problems currently in the US affecting about 15 million US citizens in any given year.
Yet the illness is not commonly understood among the population, leading to people withdrawing from social contacts in case....., even stopping work in case ......, avoiding friends, in case ........., stop eating in company, in case...... Interesting piece from a psychologist on social anxiety disorder.

A comment from D.K. - I need your help

I just received a comment from D.K. in which she states:
When it comes to psychological illnesses is a bit hard to be sure. I had disritmia that for long time doctors thought was a depression. I did treatment but was alone with myself trying to deal with what made me had this problem that I found a way to work on it.
My problem is that I cannot find out what distrimia is - does the term come from English or Spanish. Help greatly appreciated.

Great websites on panic attacks and social phobia

I just thought it might be useful to provide you with some of the best webites I have foudn around looking at the topics of panic attacks and social phobia.
Johanthan Berent has done a lot of pioneering work on social anxiety for over twenty years.
You will find an equally good resource on anxiety attacks here.
Lastly, Mental Health America is also worth visiting.