Call it whatever you like but it all stems down to a lack of ACTUAL social interaction and TOO much use of technology.
There's a new psychological condition in town and they're calling it "social phobia." Worse than shyness, government researchers say the condition is afflicting teens across North America.
It's no surprise if you ask me and it's also not restricted to teens. I was out the other night with some friends, many of whom have recently purchased new iPhones. There we are, sitting around the table and three quarters of the group have their cell phones out. "I want to learn how to use Face Time," I hear. For the few who haven't heard of it, it's an application for your phone that allows you to talk with another iPhone owner using video chat... so you see the other person while you talk. Kind of a cool feature I admit - if you're talking to someone in another city. But we're sitting across the table from each other. From phone calls, to texting, to looking up things on the internet, rather than conversation, table talk has gotten swallowed up by technology.
And that's minor. There are people who don't even go out to socialize. Instead they are holed up at home or in the office online... playing games, chatting on dating sites, emailing, or whatever the case may be. They're engaged in technology rather than face-to-face human involvement. People attend classes and meetings via video conferencing and/or online technology... there's just a plain and simple lack of one-on-one interaction and it's having an affect on social relationships. If you never go out and talk with other people, of course you're going to have phobias when it comes to gatherings or actual conversations.
People have been shy and have had fears about speaking in public since the beginning of time and while maybe the change in times warrants a new title for the behaviour (although I'm not so sure), it all boils down to taking a step out of your comfort zone and getting involved in your surroundings.
I was shy growing up - painfully shy at times - and still am to a certain degree today (though some would argue that fact). I moved a lot, was often the 'new kid' in the class and always tried to fade into the woodwork. I wasn't on the volleyball team. I never signed up for school plays. I never ran for school president and I blamed it all on shyness. The fact is, people love to make excuses. It's really though, a choice of stepping out of your comfort zone, or making the decision to put the cell phone down, or what have you. I'm not arguing 'social phobias' aren't real but I AM saying rather than worry about labelling, maybe we should instead get to the root of the problem.
