Anxiety Forum

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In this article about studies on social phobia, there is a discussion on treatment strategies that seem to work, as well as information regarding Richard Heimberg's current study on the treatment of social phobia using medication mixed with CBT. The article notes some things that seem to be consistent among other studies I have read:

-CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) treatments have high success rates and result in lower rates of relapse than other treatments
-Medication treatments may be effective short-term, but once social phobia sufferers discontinue the medication, they appear to have higher rates of relapse than patients who received CBT

The current study headed by Richard Heimberg mixes those two therapies. CBT is used to change people's thinking and perceptions as well as exposing them to their fears in small increments and in Heimberg's study uses role-playing to simulate different situations. Paxil, an SSRI drug, is the medication being used in the study to control anxiety.

http://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug05/stemming.html


A couple of interesting tidbits from the study:

Classifying the two different subtypes of social phobia:
-generalized social phobia - many/all social situations
-specific social phobia - specific social situations such as public speaking or eating in public

Quote on the prevalence of social phobia: