Do you think social anxiety should represented more in the media?

[Bob]

People are often able to care about what they see in the media, and this has got a lot of sympathy for people with various physical and mental problems and disabilities, but there is very little in the way of media on social anxiety, and it is rarely treated with much attention. I think that because of this, unless you have experience of it, either from yourself or someone close to you (and sometimes you don't even hear about it from them because of it) or they have an interest in psychology, it will go over most peoples heads. I think it is a problem that deserves some recognition and attention. A lot of people with social anxiety will be too afraid, due to the anxiety, to actually say anything about it, which is why I think it is such a difficult problem to deal with. I may be biased having experienced it myself, but I think it would be nice if people had more sympathy for it and did not alienate people because they don't always get what is wrong with them.

[Razmtaz]

an interesting question/observation, but consider the following: anxiety tends to be a part of the whole mental health/psychology world. I dont know how old you are but back in the day this was a big issue. For instance, in the 80's, 90's when they caught all these serial killers they made the front page of many newspapers (jeffrey dahmer, ted bundy, i dont even remember others) and much of the issue being portrayed was mental health (schizophrenia was tossed around alot, as well as antisocial personality disorder or equivelant term, etc..), also, the media coverage of postal service employees who snap and shoot up the place is similar.

what Im getting at by mentioning these is that social anxiety is kind of related to these more serious mental/medical conditions, and they have already been covered extensively.

Im not sure what youre really getting at with this question... you say that people with disabilities make the news? and your argument is "they make the news for being messed up, so other people should make the news for having anxiety/an anxiety disorder". if somebody has anxiety, its not really newsworthy. if somebody has a diagnosable anxiety disorder, its still not newsworthy. if they have said disorder, and they do something newsworthy, then the disorder becomes newsworthy. People dont just make the news because they are a certain way. At least I certainly hope not lmao.

[Pamela]

Yes, it should be represented more. You could have many sympathetic characters with social anxiety disorder. I myself only became aware of it about 2 years ago, and still don't know how to handle it. I have two close friends with it, 12,000 miles away, Someday I hope to meet them, but don't want to make them uncomfortable.

Another thing: people with social anxiety don't seem to realize there is therapy for it, both medicinal and through psychotherapy. It doesn't turn them into robust, outgoing people, but it enhances the chance of meeting someone special, making more friends, and getting along at work better. That needs to be addressed, too.

But, yes, social anxiety is the hidden mental disorder, which is a shame.