Arantxa Martinez

I.

RWS 1301

Oct 30th, 2015

Introduction
Good morning, teenage students. My name is Arantxa Martinez, and
today I will be talking a little bit about Social Anxiety, and how common
this anxiety is, as well as how it affects oneself. Social Anxiety is the
disability of performing and being part of group organizations and
activities, public talks, and even one on one introductions. I will
specifically talk more in depth about the meaning of this anxiety, what
causes it or how it begins, how to recognize it in someone or in yourself,
and how to deal and overcome it. To begin, I will be talking more in
depth about what Social Anxiety is.

II.

Clearly explain the problem

a. Main Point 1 What is Social Anxiety?
Social Anxiety is the fear of interaction with other people that brings
self consciousness, feelings of being negatively evaluated and judged,
and as a result, leads to avoidance. If a person usually becomes
anxious in social situations, and feels or says they are better off
alone, then social anxiety might be the problem. Now a days, we often
confuse social anxiety with shyness, but we fail to realize that
certain behaviors are signs of the mental illness, rather than the
emotion. You can see patterns that conclude to social anxiety, such as
someone acting awkward upon introduction, showing anxiety by
not being able to maintain eye contact, shakiness, belittling
themselves, among many other small behaviors. As previously
mentioned, it is often confused with the feeling of being shy.
However, a shy person demonstrates shyness by somewhat smiling,
keeping quiet, but speaking when spoken too, or slowly integrating
themselves to the activity they are being a part of. That is the
difference between the emotion and the anxiety itself.
b. Main Point 2 What causes Social Anxiety, how do you fight it?
Social anxiety can be triggered for many different reasons, such as
inhibited temperaments as a child (Schwartz, C. E. (2000).
Adolescent Social Anxiety as an Outcome of Inhibited Temperament
as a Child. Vol. 38, Issue 8.), negative outcomes in past experiences
dealing with social activities, inherited mental illnesses, and so on.
Fighting and overcoming it isnt easy. No battle against a mental

Arantxa Martinez

RWS 1301

Oct 30th, 2015

disability is easy. It takes a lot of moral and physical support. Social

Anxiety comes from anxiety itself. Anxiety is the constant feeling of
insecurity and constantly over thinking situations. Social anxiety is a
lot of overthinking; overthinking public situations, expecting the
worst, as well as slowly isolating yourself, then causing depression
and exclusion. Someone trying to overcome this mental disability
needs to be taught how to face it. Since social anxiety is a common
yet underground disability, there are still many small mental
institutions and therapists that help patients with is. Their method of
helping is by making the patients speak, participate, and become a
part of small activities, that then lead to bigger groups and larger
social activities in which participating no longer becomes an option. It
may be brutal for the patient, but the main goal is to overcome.
c. Main Point 3 The Exclusion Theory
The Exclusion Theory is a far more interesting theory dealing with
social anxiety that many people, including myself, were unaware of.
The Exclusion Theory is the mentality of a socially anxious person,
that leads to excluding themselves from everything and everyone,
isolating themselves completely, falling into depression and the start
of suicidal thoughts. The mentality that was researched in the
Exclusion Theory came out to be the Im not good enough
mentality. Socially anxious people tend to believe they arent good
enough, good looking enough, helpful enough, etc, to be a part of
social activities. This then leads to exclusion and isolation. Once a
socially anxious person is completely excluded, they begin feeling
alone. Feeling alone comes hand in hand to feeling depressed.
Depression is an extremely deep sadness, and it is harder to get out of,
which is why most people with depression tend to commit suicide.
Socially anxious people that fall into depression then begin having
suicidal thoughts. The constant feeling of not being good enough for
society makes them feel as if their life has no meaning. Suicidal
thoughts get deeper and stronger, and most tend to go through with
suicide rather than seeking for help. Most dont seek for help because
of the fear of being ignored, or being neglected. The Exclusion Theory
is still a topic in research and analysis.
III.

How does this impact the community?

As said before, many people are unaware of this anxiety. Since it hasnt
been something publicly spoken of, it is left in the dark, as well as

Arantxa Martinez

RWS 1301

Oct 30th, 2015

anyone dealing with it. Some people may see it as exaggeration, some
may think its shyness, whatever it may be, there isnt enough attention to
it as there should be. Teenage students happen to be the ones dealing with
this anxiety the most, specifically teenagers between the ages of 16-23.
These are the developmental ages, where teens are usually growing,
finding themselves, developing their interests. Unfortunately, this is also
the time where it is easiest to fall into social anxiety, and possibly
develop this as well as any other mental illness. It is common, just not
shown. The more attention drawn to it, the more society can understand
the mentality of the people going through it.
IV.

Provide a closing statement

As a teenager yourself, have you seen someone acting what you would
call weird, awkward, different even? Do you tell them you think of
them that way? And if you did, do you realize how those words could
affect them? What if that person is you, and you havent said anything
about it. Why do you allow yourself to feel alone? Putting yourself in the
situation of others is much easier said than done, however, if society
cared a little bit more about the development of the future generation,
then maybe the future of the country, and the world so to say, wouldnt be
at risk of failure, but at the peak of success.