Wouldn’t that be just regular old agoraphobia?
I’m with the goat on this one. Those commercials about SAD make me feel like I need to be medicated. So do the Sarafem ones, if you want to know the truth. & I answer “yes” to almost all the questions on the ADHD diagnostic survey…should I get some Ritalin?
For example, I have a completely irrational fear of talking to people on the telephone whom I do not know. Talking to strangers in person, which is probably more dangerous, has never bothered me one whit, but I fly into a panic when my BF asks me to call the hardware store & ask them how late they’re open tonight. My throat closes up & my heart pounds & I’m really scared!! Should I be on medication, with all its accompanying side effects, just because of that?
No one’s saying that SAD is totally made up, just that it’s being marketed too heavily & people who don’t really need medication may end up taking it.
I have the same telephone problem, except it extends to meeting people in person as well. My throat doesn’t swell, but I start to feel queasy, accompanied by the heart pounding and scaredness. It all goes away once I force myself to do it. It’s that anticipation of the event that gets to me. I don’t think I should be on medication for it, and this is what I had in mind when I said “minor harmless problem”.
Actually, I think the commercials for Paxil do an excellent job of describing symptoms of a general anxiety disorder. If you are so anxious in social situations that you avoid them altogether or rehash perceived embarassing moments again and againAND this affects your functioning adversely then you probably should see a doctor about getting on Paxil or something like it. The ad shows several people with these symptoms in the hopes that the person who may have just turned down a dinner date or other social event because of their anxiety will see it and seek medical advice.
A good mental health professional will not prescribe unneeded meds. The idea of the Paxil commercial is to make people who ARE suffering (and I do mean suffering) from a social anxiety disorder realize that it actually IS a disorder and they could be helped. It is not for shy people, it is for people with an actual social disorder. If you’re unsure of the difference, educate yourself before judging the disorder.
http://www.anxietynetwork.com/sphome.html
By the way, agoraphobia is different.
The clinical definition of agoraphobia is a fear of situations or places in which “escape might be difficult or help unavailable in the event of a panic attack” (from this website: http://www.panicdisorder.about.com/health/panicdisorder/library/weekly/aa102997.htm )
I just wanted to clear that up- always try to understand an issue before assuming that there is a scam going on (“invented” illnesses).
Zette
Just to continue this hijack, isn’t SAD normally the acronym for Seasonal Affective Disorder? It gets confusing when these newly named disorders are competing for the same acronyms. I think SAD is more appropriate for Seasonal Affective Disorder, which is characterized by depression, than for Social Anxiety Disorder, which is characterized by anxiety (which can lead to depression).