When someone is afraid of interacting with strangers, you consider it shyness. Right? But, if such feeling persists for months and affects their daily activities, it refers to social phobia or social anxiety disorder. People of any gender and age may experience this problem. With proper treatment from a psychologist in Plymouth, MN, you can treat the disorder. But, how does this condition affect your brain? Learn more about social anxiety and its impact on your brain.
Internal Parts Of Your Brain Affected By Social Anxiety-
Social anxiety disorder makes you feel highly embarrassed and afraid when you are in social situations. For instance, you may feel nervous when you communicate with new people. The intense fear will prevent you from doing your regular activities. It may also affect your relationships. If you are socially anxious, it affects some areas of the brain intended for processing emotion and social cues.
Hippocampus-
Although the hippocampus is mainly related to our memory, it has some connection to social anxiety. Some scientists think social phobia is a behavior problem, and people develop it when they experience negative social interactions. So, when people with social anxiety issues face strangers, their hippocampus can go into overdrive. These people consider those faces as something threatening.
Anterior Cingulate Cortex
ACC helps you control your emotions. Its main role is to process social rejection. Besides, it manages your stress when you interact socially. In the case of people with social anxiety, the overactive ACC causes an issue.
The prefrontal cortex of your brain relies on ACC for interacting with other parts. But, if you have the disorder, there is a disruption in the channel. That is why you may find it challenging to control your emotional behavior.
Prefrontal Cortex
This is another brain part responsible for self-control, planning, and decision-making. If you have a social phobia, this part becomes smaller and underactive. PFC responds to other parts of your brain in different ways. It sends an alert to the amygdala and prevents it from becoming overactive during your social conversation. However, this process does not work well for patients with social phobia.
Elsewhere, PFC regulates your brain’s ability to pay attention to any issue. It also becomes highly active when you face social threats.
Amygdala-
The amygdala is another part that deals with emotions, aggression, and fear. It controls your normal response to threats. Like other brain parts, the amygdala becomes overactive. For instance, you may become afraid when you encounter fearful faces.
Our brain has oxytocin that acts as the messenger and reduces anxiety. But, in the case of socially anxious persons, it does not work properly, and the amygdala does not show a normal response. It happens due to the reduced level of oxytocin. People with social phobia take more time to process emotions and threats.
You can consult a psychologist in Plymouth to treat your social anxiety disorder. If you always fear communicating with unfamiliar people, you need treatment. This disorder also causes some physical symptoms, such as excessive sweating, trembling hands, tense muscles, and rigid body posture. The psychologist will ask you about the symptoms before starting treatment.