• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.159-165
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• 2014

Background and objectives : Social phobia is a nervous anxiety characterized by one or more constant fear in social activity or specific situation which causes serious damage to individual's social functions leading to chronic functional impairment when it is untreated. The objective of this study is to report a new finding of a possible subtype of social phobia according to a case survey and study of sufferers found via online support group. Methods : A single case review using survey and interview on patient was employed. Following a no-treatment baseline period for examination and interview, biweekly acupuncture treatment with interview for in-depth examination was delivered for 6months. Also, for in-depth investigation of peripheral vision phobia, survey questionnaire was done by the members of a Korean support group on on-line social group forum. Result : A new type of social phobia which has not yet been reported nor mentioned in any journals, namely called 'peripheral vision phobia' has been identified. Biweekly acupuncture treatment reached a comfort state of mental status on one case of patient with social phobia. Limitation : Due to the shift of environment on patient's part, the termination of the school session at where the phobia occur the most, the reoccurrence of the phobia is yet to be examined. Also, the generalization of the new type of phobia as a subtype only by reviewing one case alone with survey interview of on-line social group has limitation. Conclusion : The result of the case review suggests that 'peripheral vision phobia' is strictly concentrated on malfunctioning of peripheral vision without functional or organic hindrance of pupils or of any parts of eyes including eye muscles due to peripheral vision phobia. PVP is similar to social phobia and it may be a subtype of social phobia, however, since etiology, diagnosis, medical treatment methods are under researched, investigation is yet to be done.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.62-67
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• 2008

Objectives : Gender differences in demographic characteristics, symptom presentation, and severity may influence the selection of target behaviors as well as the course and outcome of therapeutic interventions for patients with social phobia. The purpose of this study was to explore the gender differences in the symptomatic characteristics of Korean patients with social phobia. Methods : A total of 256 outpatients with social phobia at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital were included in this study. All subjects were evaluated using the Korean version of the MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview Plus. Potential differences in demographic characteristics, severity of anxiety, and situational fear and avoidance were examined. Self-report questionnaires and interviewer-administered instruments, including the Social Phobia Scale (SPS), Social Phobia subscale of the Fear Questionnaire (FQ-social), Appraisal of Social Concerns (ASC), and Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), were used to evaluate the severity of the patients' symptoms. Results : There were no gender differences in demographic characteristics, age, age at onset of social phobia, total SPS score, FQ-Social score, ASC score, and LSAS score. In addition, there was no gender difference in the severity of fear in specific social situations. However, women reported significantly higher total scores on the social helplessness category of the ASC than men (p=0.009). Conclusion : Previous studies reported that the severity of social phobia symptoms is greater in women than in men, but our results suggest that there are no significant gender differences in the severity of social phobia symptoms. Thus, gender differences among patients with social phobia are discussed in the context of traditional sex-role expectations.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.191-200
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• 2000

It is our purpose to evaluate the validity & interrater reliability of CIDI-social phobia, Korean Version. Method : CIDI-Social phobia Korean Version was evaluated by 50 Korean social phobia patients who met diagnostic criteria of DSM-IV. The authors calculated diagnostic concordance rate between clinical diagnosis & diagnosis by using the CIDI-social phobia Korean Version for evaluating validity. We also calculated the interrater diagnostic concordance of 20 social phobia patients for evaluating interrater reliability. Results : Validity of the CIDI-social phobia Korean Version was 0.74, & Interrater reliability(kappa) was 0.75. Conclusions : CIDI-Social phobia, Korean version had a good reliability & validity. That was proved a good instrument for diagnosing social phobia for general population and clinical patients

• Journal of Korean Academy of Dental Administration
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.89-95
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• 2023

Social phobia is a mental disorder that triggers physical reactions, such as cold sweats, headaches, and panic attacks, as a result of anxiety about a particular situation. Individuals with social phobia are thought to be more sensitive to dental anxiety and may have difficulty visiting the dentist as a result. This study aimed to determine the relationship between social phobia and dental fear among college students, who are reported to have a high prevalence of social phobia. A total of 120 survey responses were analyzed. To investigate the variation in dental fear levels based on the level of social phobia, the total social phobia score was divided into two groups: 41 points or more, and 40 points or less. The disparity in dental fear scores was then analyzed using a t-test. The study found that the average score for dental fear was statistically significantly higher in the group with a total social phobia score of 41 points or more compared to the group with a total score of 40 points or less (p<0.05). Furthermore, the group that scored 41 points or higher on the social phobia scale reported experiencing symptoms such as feeling nauseous at the dentist (3.29 points), sweating upon entering the dentist (3.13 points), and feeling afraid when looking at the dentist (3.13 points). The score was high (p<0.05). Therefore, dental patients exhibiting anxiety symptoms require a comfortable treatment environment to alleviate dental fear, and safe, pain-free dental treatment techniques must be employed.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.170-177
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• 2006

Objectives : Disturbances of serotonergic system might be related to the possible mechanism of social phobia. This study was to investigate the association of serotonin transporter gene and social phobia. Methods : Sixty nine patients with social phobia(51 male(73.9%), mean age $35.17{\pm}11.89$ years) and seventy four normal controls(54 male(73.0%), mean age $33.46{\pm}9.63$ years) were tested for serotonin transporter gene-linked polymorphic region(5-HTTLPR) polymorphism. Additionally, patients were grouped into 46 generalized(GEN) and 23 nongeneralized(NGEN) subgroups and 5-HTTLPR polymorphism was compared with that of normal controls. The genotypes and allele frequencies of the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism between social phobia and the control group were compared. Genomic DNA was extracted from their blood and 5-HTTLPR polymorphisms were determined by using polymerase chain reaction. Results : Significant association was observed between the S(ss) genotype and social phobia, by functional classification(p=.010). In allele frequency analysis, a significant association was also observed between the short allele and social phobia(p=.030). A significant associations between S genotype and each subgroup were observed(GEN p=.045 ; NGEN p=.033), but there were no differences in allele frequency. And, no differences in genotype and allele distribution between two subgroups were found. Conclusion : The results in our Korean sample suggest that S genotype of 5-HTTLPR may be associated with social phobia and s allele may be an important genetic factor that activates social phobic symptoms. But, further studies including large number of samples are necessary to elucidate these present findings.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.37-43
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• 2014

Objective : Social Phobia is associated with extensive disability and reduced quality of life. The concept of 'social self' is a representation of the self-reflected in the eyes of others, and is recruited during self-face recognition, which is closely related to self-esteem. The aim of this study was to identify the relationship of face recognition for self and others using measures of social anxiety and self-esteem in patients with social phobia. Methods : Twenty-seven patients with social phobia and twenty-three normal controls were evaluated with scales of self-esteem, depression, anxiety and other psychiatric symptoms. All participants completed the self-face recognition task. Nine self-faces, nine other faces and eighty-one morphed faces were presented randomly for each trial. The participants were instructed to make a decision as to whether the stimuli were self-face or not. The responses and reaction times were recorded during the task. Results : There were no group differences of the morphing composition at the recognition start point as self-face. In patients with social phobia, the mean reaction time at the start point of recognizing as a self-face was 1,037.6 ms, which was significantly longer than that of normal controls (911.3 ms, p<0.05). Patients with social phobia showed a significant negative correlation between the mean reaction time and the severity of depression when the stimuli were recognized as a self-face (r=-0.421, p<0.05). Conclusion : A difficulty in attention rather than avoidance may be an important factor of face recognition in patients with social phobia. When considering self-face recognition in such patients, many factors, such as anxiety, depression, working memory and theory of mind, need to be considered.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.165-172
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• 2004

Objective:Although polymorphism of dopamine transporter gene(DAT1) has been considered to be implicated in the pathogenesis of social phobia, previous investigations have been inconsistent and controversial. The authors investigated the relationship between DAT1 polymorphism and social phobia in Koreans. Methods:DAT1 and alleles of fifty subjects who met DSM-IV criterion of social phobia, and those of age- & sex- matched fifty normal controls in Korea were compared. Additionally, patients were grouped into generalized(33) and nongeneralized(17) types and DAT1 polymorphism was compared with that of age- & sex- matched controls. DAT1 with variable number of tandem repeats(VNTR) were determined by using polymerase chain reaction. To compare the distribution of the DAT1 polymorphism between different groups, Fisher's exact test was used. Results:There were no significant differences in either genotypic(p=0.451) or allelic(p=0.452) distributions between the social phobia patients and the controls. There also were no differences in genotypic distribution between subtypes of social phobia patients and the controls. Conclusion:We couldn't find any association between DAT1 polymorphism and social phobia. Further studies including larger number of samples and diverse clinical variables should be conducted to elucidate the present findings.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.106-114
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• 2007

Objective : It is suggested that disturbance of dopaminergic system might be related to the possible mechanism of social phobia. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible association of DRD2 TaqI polymorphism and social phobia. Method : Fifty-one patients with social phobia and 200 comparison subjects were tested for DRD2 TaqI A polymorphism. The severity of social phobic symptoms was measured by self-report version of the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale(LSAS-SR) and Hamilton anxiety scale(HAM-A). Results : There was no signigicant difference in the genotype, allele frequency, A1 carrier frequency, and heterozygote frequency DRD2 TaqI A polymorphism between the social phobia patients and the control groups. However, we found significant decrease in somatic anxiety of the HAM-A in the patients having A2A2 homozygotes(p=0.014). In addition, patients having A1A2 heterozygotes showed more anxiety in two subscales (p=0.042 in anxiety, p=0.019 in performance) of the LSAS-SR. Conclusion : These results suggest that DRD2 A2 homozygote might have a protective role against somatic anxiety, and molecular heterosis of DRD2 TaqI A polymorphism might be related with more severe anxiety in social phobia.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.79-84
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• 1996

We have studied 16 patients diagnosed of social phobia among the hospitalized patients for 1 year, from September 1994 to August 1995, to evaluate whether serial phobic symptoms are the prodromal symptoms of the other psychiatric disorder or concomitant disorder. The results were as follows; 1) In the subject of this study, the mean age of onset of social phobic symptoms was 17.3, and the mean age of inital hospital visit was 27.4. 2) The proportion of offensive type was higher than the simple type : 7 cases of the subjects classified as simple type, 9 cases as offensive type. 3) According to the type of social phobia, they developed different type of psychiatric disorder. Majority of patients with simple type had final diagnosis of mood disorder. Patients with offensive type had schizophrenia spectrum disorder, such as schizophrenia, delusional disorder, and schizophrenia, personality disorder. 4) Social phobic symptoms have taken various courses according to the final diagnosis. In the patients who developed major depression and delusional disorder, social phobic symptoms have not been changed during the course. Patients with the final diagnosis of schizophrenia and schizotypal personality disorder have showed various social phobic symptoms. In the patients with the final diagnosis of bipolar disorder, their social phobic symptoms disappeared with improvement of depression.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.191-201
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• 2004

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects and limitations of cognitive & behavioral therapy that applied to the social phobia. In this case, a female patient, 25 old, who had been treated distantly by her friends, was trained to catch her dysfunctional belief and maladaptive automatic thoughts. In this training, we used homework and counselling for 2months. And we diagnosed her state as SimDamHeoGup(心膽虛怯), so we used acupuncture treatment and herbs, for example HaChulBoShimTang(夏朮補心湯) and GuiBiWonDamTang(歸脾溫膽湯). In result, she could recover social relationship slowly. Conclusionally, cognitive & behavioral therapy can be very effective methods to treat social phobia, because patients with social phobia have maladaptive automatic thoughts, based on dysfunctional beliefs like 'I'm infelicitous' or 'I'm ineffective'.