A nigh popular saying among first-time public speakers is “I’m having butterflies in my stomach”; a normalcy but if the butterflies keep fluttering even after the first few occasions, it might be the more serious case of being afflicted with the social anxiety disorder condition.

Anxiety is a natural biological reaction in everyone, actually. It is a trait that appears in us even from the early days of our being. Surely one can remember (or at least feign to do so) the anxious feelings we have in venturing outside the safety zone of the crib.

Later on in life, the same feeling appears in a more vivid form when one ventures out to meet others. The first social contact with another is an important aspect of life and it is these very experiences which would shape our future and how the person will turn out.

Are we born an introvert? Experts might just differ on this, but logically, this character trait is developed through the years. My thoughts are that people are naturally extroverts. We cry out for attention from the moment we were born to this world. As babies, we crave for love and attention, and go all out to get this experiences, hence our ability to grow and mature within our surroundings.

Nurtured incorrectly, this very craving for attention, for acceptance, could well be the catalyst for future social anxiety disorders in teens and adults. Being shy is, of course, natural when we meet new people, some of whom we would eventually adopt as our friends or even lovers. Introverts too, could blend into long lasting friendship once the initial shyness barrier is broken.

This, unfortunately, is not the case for those afflicted with social anxiety disorder conditions. They tended to look for extreme signs of acceptance from others. They fear even the littlest signs of disapproval from those around them. Butterflies are no longer just fluttering in their stomachs but flapping like deranged birds trapped in a cage in their mind.

The very need for approval and acceptance would somehow present itself physically. It might be stuttering, sweating palms, blushing, and in some cases, a loss of speech. Imagine the regressive nature of such disorders as the physical manifestations of the anxiety felt by a person so afflicted would be the very thing which would cause them to retreat even deeper within.

To treat social anxiety disorders, one needs to address the core issue of why exactly they are craving for acceptance in the first place. Someone afflicted with such condition might just struggle to provide a coherent answer to this question as they themselves might not know what causes them to freeze when confronted with such situations.

It is important to show them that anxiety is an important facet of social development. That it helps encourage one to get to know the myriad of personalities that differs from one person to the other. That it is a normal feeling to have. They have to be impressed with the fact that everyone will have their respective anxious moments; that what is more important is to accept that it is what defines us as being capable of an upwards learning curve by surpassing these very barriers created by our own psyche.

Once this is dealt with, then it might just be far easier to see what it was which had shaped this extreme timidity and shyness in the patient. This cannot be done in a single session. For all we know, the very reason and cause of the condition might never be discovered at all, but know that the very act of talking enhances the said patients self importance.

This is possibly the most important step needed in curing social anxiety disorder cases. How someone views his self worth would mould the threshold of his acceptance of others. This self worth needs strengthening to enable someone so afflicted to brush past the fear of rejection. “So What” must be the rallying call drummed into them so that they can finally see that everyone has the very same feelings when they are confronted with something new.

Medication helps, but by curing the very being, the very core, of someone afflicted with social anxiety disorder, he or she would grow out of the cocoon of needing acceptance and approved of far more permanently.