The book. “Imagine that on entering this room, you suddenly realize that you are completely naked. (…) This is what live, with more or less intensity it is true, the anxious and the social phobic. » A few years ago, the president of the American Association of Anxiety Disorders seized the assistance of a World Congress of Psychiatry with these words. And pinpointed the intense pain that people affected by social anxiety can feel, without those around them necessarily noticing it.
In fact, this fear of the gaze and judgment of others, which manifests itself in stage fright, shyness or social phobia, can seriously handicap those who experience it. In extreme cases, it invades all the compartments of a life where disproportionate efforts are deployed to avoid any contact.
This social anxiety is the subject of a trial led by three psychiatrists, Christophe André, Patrick Légeron and Antoine Pelissolo, The New Fear of Others (Odile Jacob), who explore its manifestations, its springs, but also the means of freeing oneself from it (medication, psychotherapy). In doing so, they highlight how much this fear of others can weigh on the professional life of the people concerned.
The anxiety of expressing oneself in meetings, of asserting oneself and of imposing one’s views on service providers or even the apprehension of informal exchanges around the coffee machine… This fear of others can manifest itself on multiple occasions , even influencing the career choices of those affected. Thereby, “58% of employees say they are apprehensive about taking on a management position for fear of having to speak in public”, explain the authors. What push some employees to decline a promotion.
Double-edged use
Other professionals have felt the need to adapt their careers: “Social phobic doctors opt for a specialty that does not require them to discuss with their patients, such as anesthesia or radiology”say the authors, also citing the case of this “history teacher who ends up giving up his job to work as a night watchman in a large factory, the only way not to get sick every day by confronting students, parents and colleagues”.
The times do not make things easy for social anxiety. If technologies can sometimes constitute a refuge, their use is a double-edged sword, making physical interactions rarer… And more distressing. Many employees have also had difficulty resuming face-to-face professional activity after periods of confinement, “having lost the habit of direct confrontations and speaking out during real meetings”.
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