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Social Anxiety Disorder may be met with negative reactions from people who are not aware or have not experienced an anxiety related condition themselves.
Social Anxiety Disorder has been named one of the Top 10 “Yuppie” conditions. The disorder is categorized with similar conditions including: Chronic Fatigue, Tennis Elbow, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Gluten Allergy, Epstein-Barr virus (or EBV), Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Restless Leg Syndrome, Seasonal Affective Disorder, and Fibromyalgia.
A Yuppie is short for Young Urban Professional, people who are middle class and financially secure and have reached financial gain with little effort. Like Chronic Fatigue, which was coined “The Yuppie Flu” when it first emerged, Social Anxiety Disorder is often perceived to be a made up condition for people who do not wish to face every day situations. Like many anxiety related disorders, Social Anxiety Disorder may not always be taken seriously because it cannot be physically diagnosed with a blood test or an X-ray. According to ABC.com News, doctors who diagnose these disorders can at times come under criticism as people believe they are making money off of the drugs they prescribe to their patients.
Many people with Social Anxiety Disorder have, in the past, been perceived as ‘shy’. However, being a shy person and being afraid to enter into social situations are two different issues. Shy people are afraid of social situations but avoiding a social situation altogether, to the point of rarely leaving the house, is more extreme.
Dealing with social anxiety and not being taken seriously can heighten anxiety, causing people struggling with the condition to further enter into their personal shells. Being ridiculed and criticized will not cure a social disorder and should be taken seriously. The concept of a “Yuppie” condition exists because people who have not suffered from the condition find it hard to comprehend suffering from anxiety themselves.


(4.50 out of 5)