Social Anxiety:

How It Differs From Shyness and Other Forms

Of Anxiety
Jovonna Vanessa
Passages I
9/1/2015
Hansen

I. Introduction
Did you know that over 40 million people from ages 18 and up are being affected by
Social Anxiety Disorder? That is over 18% of the population and even though this disorder is
completely treatable only 4% of the diagnosed population get treatment. The topic for my first
Passage will be about Social Anxiety and how it is different from shyness and other types of
anxiety. I am interested in this topic because I have recently been diagnosed with Social

Anxiety Disorder (S.A.D) as well as Generalized Anxiety Disorder (G.A.D) and would like to
know more about this mental disorder and how it will affect me throughout my life and its
connection to other mental disorders, such as depression and schizophrenia. Social Anxiety
Disorder is a subtype of anxiety, and makes people have an excessive and unreasonable fear of
interacting with other people. Social Anxiety is a mental disorder, which means that there is
some sort of identifiable chemical imbalance in your brain. My initial argument will be how it
differs from shyness, and how it's different from other types of anxieties. I want to explore which
groups of people it affects the most, and which groups of people it affects the least. My main
focus questions will be: how is Social Anxiety Disorder different from other types of anxiety
disorders and why? where is this disorder more present in the world? and which groups of people
does it affect the most (teens, adults, children, or ethnicity, race etc.)
II: Learning Objectives
A. To learn more about connections between Mental Disorders
B. To learn different points of view on anxiety, and how to treat it.
C. To make connections with other people who have this disorder.
D. To make connections with other disorders that are similar or different than anxiety.
E. To work on finding a new way to care for this disorder.
F. To work on my writing skills.
G. To work on my presentation skills.
H. To improve my time management skills.
III: ACTIVITIES AND TIMELINE
ACTIVITY

TIMELINE

Turn in passage topic.

(due September 1st 2015)

Turn in passage proposal intro.

(due September 3rd 2015)

Try different ways to handle anxiety.

(due by September 8th 2015)

Record which strategies were most effective

(due by September 10th 2015)

Turn in first proposal draft

(due by September 10th 2015)

Conduct committee meeting

(due by September 18th 2015)

Have a clearly written thesis

(due by September 24th 2015)

Have 5 pages written

(due by October 16th 2015)

Have 10 pages written

(due by October 30th 2015)

Have 15 page essay done

(due by December 10th 2015)

IV. FORM
1

My passage will be a 15-page typed double spaced college quality research paper with citations
on a work cited page. My audience for my passage will be a group of students and teachers who
choose to attend my presentation. I will give a 20-30 minute summary of my research to my
audience and committee to defend my argument. Afterwards I will take any questions from the
audience and have a discussion with the audience.
V. GPS DOMAINS
This passage will demonstrate proficiency in two of the four domains. One of the domains that
will be addressed is Investigate the World by identifying, describing and framing questions about
an issue and explain how that issue is locally, regionally, and/or globality significant, The use of
a variety of international and domestic sources will help to identify and weigh relevant evidence
that addresses a globally focused question. The other domain that will be addressed is
Recognizing Perspectives by explaining how perspectives influence human interactions affecting
their understanding of situations and events, issues or phenomenons.
VI: PREPARATION
A. To do research
B. To experiment with various ways to cope with an anxiety disorder
C. To work on citing my sources
D. To have 1 hour out of class to get caught up with due dates
E. To have at least three sources to get statistics off of
F. To keep myself on schedule to not fall behind on work the help my my committee
members:
Mr. Adams- Faculty
Mr. Brown- Faculty
Danielle Lizarraga- Student
Jacob Greher- Student
The greatest obstacle I believe I will face is finding new ways to help all of those who suffer
from anxiety with just one method,that is not medication.Something that will help everyone and
not just a majority of the people. The first step I will take is finding and meeting new people who
have this disorder and ask them how they cope with living with anxiety and which ways they
would recommend to other people who may be self diagnosed or medically diagnosed.