Social anxiety in times of Pandemic.

Social anxiety increased during the pandemic period precisely because of the time spent in confinement. For those people who previously experienced traits of social anxiety, the time of seclusion allowed them the relative comfort of not having to face those situations.

On the one hand, this may have helped to work it, in the event that it has gone through a treatment preparing the necessary bases for the opening. In others, the increased avoidance due to confinement may have intensified the symptoms, suffering an increase when they began to be more flexible and allow face-to-face attendance.

Added to this, cases of social anxiety arose in those people who had never experienced significant symptoms regarding this. The unprecedented situation of being confined for so long, accompanied by fears of contracting the virus and contagion, consequently caused symptoms of this type to begin to appear en masse.

In adults as well as in adolescents and children, social anxiety began to manifest with greater incidence. The circumstance of seclusion for a long time, the cessation of meetings with close ties, and the annulment of community spaces that were part of the routine initially implied a break and, secondarily, a need on the part of the individuals to adapt to what the new reality demanded.

Thus, being behind closed doors involved a whole readjustment of routines and energy aimed at creating a new structure that allows us to sustain that time in quarantine. Going out into the outside world again and meeting others can be a huge effort for many. Because it implies, once again, modifying those changes that had been put into play to sustain the demands of the moment.

For others, however, the opening was the most expected situation, and in these cases, it probably did not imply any conflict.

Closure and avoidance of contact undoubtedly potentiated the symptoms associated with social anxiety. The opening involves the challenge of gradually coming to grips with, or perhaps for the first time, dealing with social situations that trigger fear and anxiety.

It is advisable to detect when this occurs in order to consult and work on it properly. In the context in which we are, these types of symptoms can be covered up, which is why some introspection or inquiry is required to perceive it.

In these cases, it is observed that, even when there are more flexible rules and more enabled spaces, the person continues in confinement, going out very little or seeing very few people. There are even cases in which the state of isolation is perpetuated practically as in the first stage of quarantine. Under the motto of "complying" with protocols or not putting yourself at risk, some positions are extreme, which may be the perfect reason to avoid what causes great anxiety.

This, of course, does not imply that it is necessary to stop complying with the protocols, but simply it is essential to evaluate if in certain individuals this is taking it to an extreme point, being functional to social anxiety.

As we said before, detecting these differences is extremely important. Whilst time spent in seclusion can be useful and in many ways necessary, prolonged time and for certain people, in particular, can be counterproductive, and in-depth work to raise awareness of these aspects is recommended.

 

 

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