“Generalized anxiety disorder involves uncontrollable stress or worry and individuals face difficulty in performing day-to-day activities. They remain overwhelmed with their intrusive and negative thoughts. On the other hand, social anxiety disorder involves an extreme sense of fear in social gatherings. Individuals feel fear that they are being judged, humiliated and criticized by others.” 

Generalized anxiety disorder and social anxiety disorder are common mental disorders in individuals. GAD involves persistent stress over daily life activities while social anxiety involves fear or anxiety in social meetings.

Both mental issues can affect life functioning and reduce the quality of life. By understanding the major difference between GAD and social anxiety disorder, you can get early treatment and get rid of the mental issues. This article is a complete guide to all the similarities and differences between GAD and social anxiety disorder. 

What is Generalized Anxiety disorder?

Generalized anxiety disorder is a common mental illness that is characterized by the excessive or persistent stress of essential life functioning. Affected individuals do not feel control over their minds and think they are unable to regulate their emotions and thoughts. Moreover, their prolonged anxiousness affects their performance in different areas of their life. In addition, affected individuals are unable to maintain their relationships and fail to develop and strengthen their bonds with their loved ones. 

What is Generalized Anxiety disorder

What are the Symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder?

There are multiple symptoms of GAD and each exhibits a varied response to the symptoms. The most common symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder include:

  • Prolonged stress
  • Nervousness
  • Excessive fear of the future
  • Physical symptoms
  • Nausea
  • Fatigue 
  • Tiredness
  • Muscle tension
  • Trembling or shaking of hands 

What is Social Anxiety?

Social anxiety is also a common mental issue. It is also called social phobia as individuals have a fear of social interactions. In addition, affected individuals usually avoid getting exposed to any new or unknown situations or meeting others. Moreover, they have a fear of being judged or getting embarrassed by others. Therefore they do not feel comfort in social settings. 

It’s quite normal that interacting with new people is difficult for most people, but if the emotions are getting overwhelming and affecting mental stability then it means the person is dealing with a mental illness. Each suffering from social anxiety disorder has different kinds of fear and they feel self-conscious. However, most adults usually avoid social engagement due to their fear of judgement of their appearance. They think that others will judge them and point out the flaws of their personality. Likewise, older people take the stress of getting judged or treated badly due to their impairment. Therefore, they prefer to stay alone instead of going out and participating in any social meeting. 

What is Social Anxiety

However, the other common kinds of fear that are involved in social anxiety or social phobia include:

  • Fear of attending family or friend gatherings
  • Eating in front of people
  • Speaking in a crowd
  • Going alone in restaurants
  • Interacting with others at school or workplace
  • Starting a new project 
  • Talking with any stranger

Individuals dealing with social anxiety disorder can expand their mental worries and can eventually develop generalized anxiety disorder. 

What are the Symptoms of Social Anxiety?

Some common signs of social anxiety are as follows:

Avoidance of social engagements: Individuals usually avoid people, situations or places and prefer to stay alone. 

Social consciousness: They take stress off their physical appearance and think that every other person will judge them and insult them. 

Difficulty in speech: Due to fear of embarrassment or guilt, individuals think that they will say harsh words or speak anything bad.

Physical symptoms: The fight or flight response results in nausea, unconsciousness, sweating, blushing, trembling or shaking of hands.

Negative self-talk: They fear that they can say some bad words about their personality and will face backlash.

Anticipatory anxiety: Individuals feel fear that something bad will happen in the future maybe in a few coming weeks or months.

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In most cases, the presence of any mental illness can also increase the severity of social anxiety disorder. 

Comorbidity

Both GAD and social anxiety disorder can occur together. There are multiple symptoms that these mental conditions share. Moreover, their treatment also overlaps with each other. For example, multiple medications are effective for managing the symptoms of both mental issues. Other than medications, psychotherapy is also effective in the treatment of both mental issues. 

Shared Features of GAD and Social Anxiety

The first main factor is that both GAD and social anxiety are mental issues. Both involve persistent stress conditions due to fear of people and the future.Individuals suffering from GAD and social anxiety disorder experience physical symptoms. 

In both conditions, stress activates the sympathetic system which in turn generates the fight or flight response. This in turn results the development of some physical sensations.

Moreover, they also exhibit avoidance behavior and usually avoid meeting new people or getting engaged in social activities. Although avoidance behavior is evident in both mental conditions, the main reasons that trigger such behavior are varied. 

Shared Features of GAD and Social Anxiety

Another similar factor in both mental issues is cognitive distortion. Due to symptoms of both mental disorders, individuals experience cognitive impairments that exert a negative impact on the life of each individual. 

Individuals battling with both GAD and social anxiety utilize avoidance behavior as a coping mechanism. By staying away from those people and situations that they think can trigger their anxiety, their anxiety reduces and they feel better and relaxed. Although they feel less stress, their anxiety persists for a longer run. 

Both mental issues are also caused by the same factors including genes, biological as well as environmental factors. Furthermore, personality traits also help in the development of both generalized anxiety disorder and social anxiety. 

What happens in the brain during stress development?

When the person perceives any stressful situation, the brain receives the signals and some brain regions get activated. Specifically, the amygdala is hyperactive which not only processes but also regulates emotions. Moreover, the main responsibility of the amygdala is the development of fear responses. 

What are the major differences between GAD and Social Anxiety?

What are the major differences between GAD and Social Anxiety

Generalized Anxiety disorder Social Anxiety
GAD involves excessive stress or anxiety about everyday activities Social anxiety involves the fear of social situations
People take stress more than usual  They take stress about their relationships
They can meet new or unknown people Affected individuals usually prefer to avoid meeting new people
Physical symptoms involve fatigue, tiredness, muscle tension and sleep issues Physical symptoms involve increased heart rate, shortness of breath, sweating or shaking of hands
Generalized anxiety disorder is more pervasive Social anxiety is less pervasive
GAD involves the fear of daily responsibilities and future This involves the fear of social interactions or engagement in any social activity
They take stress throughout the day Their stress is specifically related to any situation or event
It also affects work performance and relationships.  Face difficulty in forming and strengthening relationships
Affected individuals avoid decision-making Affected individuals avoid social meetings
The focus of cognitive behavioral therapy is to positively change negative thought patterns and behavior The focus of cognitive behavioral therapy is to develop social skills and overcome the avoidance behavior

Anxiety disorder and Substance abuse

You might have noticed that most of the individuals battling with social anxiety or generalized anxiety disorder also start taking alcohol or any other drug. The main reason for their substance abuse is to reduce their stress or anxiety levels. However, this only occurs for a shorter period and excessive alcohol intake and inappropriate intake of medication can also increase the severity of the symptoms of mental issues. 

Furthermore, people suffering from social anxiety are more involved in substance abuse. Due to their social phobia, they feel hesitation in speaking in front of people. But when they drink they feel some confidence or have a little’’ liquid courage to prepare for social events or speak their heart out. Anxiety disorders and substance abuse make a never-ending cycle and worsen mental health.

Treatment for GAD & Social Anxiety

Fortunately, generalized anxiety disorder and social anxiety are treatable and multiple treatment options are highly useful for the treatment.

Experts employ medications and psychotherapy to deal with the symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder and social anxiety.

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy is a talk therapy in which GAD individuals communicate with mental health experts and get the best mental health solutions. There are multiple types of psychotherapy and among them, the most common ones are as follows:

Cognitive behavioral therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy is a form of psychotherapy that targets cognitive abnormalities. Experts conduct therapy sessions in which they determine the actual mental state of individuals. Moreover, they also ask different questions from experts to determine the severity of symptoms. Then after collecting the data, they develop a treatment plan that meets the needs of each individual. They also teach different strategies to individuals on how they can manage the symptoms of generalized anxiety and social anxiety disorder and live a mentally calm and relaxed life.

Exposure and Response Prevention Therapy

Exposure and response prevention therapy is a type of cognitive behavioral therapy that also provides the desired results. In this therapy, individuals are asked to face their fear and develop resistance in expressing the response. First individuals list down their fears and then face them in an increasing order. The fear exposure is performed under controlled conditions so each exposure assists them in developing the skills to overcome their fears. 

Group therapy 

Group therapy is a type of psychotherapy that involves the exposure of mental health experts with multiple individuals who are facing similar mental health challenges. Each shares the mental health issues and all life experiences with each other without any fear of judgement. In this way, each individual learns from each other multiple things specifically the strategies to cope with mental issues such as social anxiety and generalized anxiety disorder. 

Stress management techniques

Multiple techniques help manage stress such as mindfulness techniques. They help relax the mind and soul. Other mindfulness techniques involve yoga, meditation and breathing exercises.

Medications 

Medications are considered the primary line of treatment and are useful in managing the symptoms of both mental issues. 

Where to get the Professional Help

At Advanced Health Preference Group, you can find the best mental health solutions that are developed according to the needs of each individual. Our mental health experts are highly professional and skilled in identifying the exact mental condition and then developing a tailored strategy for each individual. Whether you are suffering from generalized anxiety disorder or social anxiety, our experts can provide you with the desired mental health assistance. So if you or your loved one is dealing with these mental issues, then reach out to Advanced Health Preference Group and schedule a consultation with our experts. Treat your mental illness and start your mental journey today.