HELP TOPIC
PROBLEMS MAKING CONTACT
As social beings, people need contact with other people. Even newborn children want close contact with their parents, and when left alone they become anxious and quickly call adults to them by crying. We feel better when we have a group of friends we can count on, friends we can meet with. We like returning home, where our loved ones are waiting for us. For some people, however, maintaining relationships with others becomes a real nightmare.
Mental health problems and difficulties in relationships with others
Low self-esteem and a diminished self-image, as well as various neuroses and depression, can cause a person to withdraw from social life. They spend their time alone, analyzing their personality and their problems. People affected by depression withdraw into their own world. Their pessimistic views and dark perception of reality are difficult for even those closest to them to understand. Friends who do not want to constantly listen to complaints often distance themselves from a person with depression. Depressive thoughts make it difficult to form new connections, because a person focused on their mental state may be unable to open up to others. They focus only on their own feelings and experiences and show limited empathy and interest in others.
Problems in interpersonal communication can also be caused by anxiety disorders. A person who suffers from neuroses every day tries to control their fears and mental problems and spends most of their energy on that. They may also seek treatment in vain for illnesses they do not actually have. For people with anxiety disorders, each day means struggling with their “flaws.” Difficulties in relationships with others arise when the patient feels misunderstood by those around them. Their problems seem impossible to solve, so it is difficult to talk to people who do not share their concerns and who view their condition as trivial.
Avoiding social situations and fearing contact with other people is considered a social phobia. This type of anxiety disorder most often develops during adolescence. A person suffering from social phobia withdraws from social life, tries to avoid making new connections, fears public speaking, and even everyday conversations. What distinguishes a phobia from shyness or introversion is that a person affected by this disorder experiences severe anxiety and somatic symptoms in all social situations. Relationships with others become difficult because the phobia prevents normal functioning in society. People with an anxiety disorder spend most of their time at home and keep in touch only with their loved ones.
Treatment
People who struggle with anxiety disorders, including social phobia, can benefit from the help of a psychotherapist. During therapy, the patient gets to the root of their fears and then learns how to manage them. Although treatment takes time, it can produce tangible results. Difficulties in relationships often arise when we focus only on our own problems and mental states, downplay the feelings of others, or avoid closer contact.
SCOPE OF ACTIVITIES