Social Anxiety Disorder versus Autism

1.How would you differentiate social anxiety disorder from autism spectrum disorder? Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a mental health chronic condition associated with
extreme fear in social settings. Individuals with social anxiety disorder have difficulty talking to other people, being in social gatherings, and fear meeting new people. This is because people with SAD fear being judged and scrutinized by others. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a condition in which individuals experience persistent challenges in speech, social interactions and experience repetitive behavior.

People with ASD and SAD have major difficulties interacting socially. Although social anxiety disorder and autism are commonly occurring disorders, they greatly differ in their clinical manifestation and symptoms. This paper seeks to discuss how one can differentiate social anxiety disorder from autism spectrum disorder. Social Anxiety Disorder versus Autism . Firstly, ASD is only diagnosed in children, while SAD is diagnosed commonly in adults.

Children diagnosed with ASD tend to engage in repetitive behaviors, have problems maintaining contact during social interactions, and have a problem developing friendships.
Secondly, individuals with SAD have the ability to form relationships, but they are significantly affected by anxiety. In other words, anxiety is the force behind the difficulties experienced by individuals with SAD. However, people with ASD have serious challenges with communication, which is a critical element in forming relationships. This means that anxiety does not need to be present in the diagnosis of ASD. Instead, behavior for people with ASD is affected by factors such as difficulty reading and understanding emotional and social cues. This shows how different the two co-occurring conditions are in real life. Social Anxiety Disorder versus Autism;

Social Anxiety Disorder

People with autism may exhibit symptoms such as rudeness, talking too loudly, inability to understand humor, problems taking hints, and trouble understanding gestures and facial expressions. People with social anxiety disorder display exactly opposite characteristics. For instance, such people report fearing embarrassment or humiliation, are sensitive to the slightest gesture and body language of others, speak too softly and stand too far away. In other words, people with autism do and act the opposite of people with SAD, which is a clear indication of their differences.

Read more  Neuroimaging research studies find that for people with SAD, the amygdala is activated when understanding facial expressions. However, the same research finds that for people with ASD, the prefrontal cortex is activated when processing facial images. This can be interpreted to mean that people with autism can easily decode the meaning ofa facial expression logically and not recording an automatic emotional reaction. APA