Anxiety Disorder Awareness
A campaign aims to support people who are suffering, letting them know they are not alone and encouraging them to seek professional help.
These findings are from a survey of 960 individuals who called an information line that was part of a two-year nationwide effort to educate Americans about social anxiety disorder, a condition in which sufferers have an intense, persistent fear and avoidance of social, work or performance situations. It is estimated that over 10 million Americans have social anxiety disorder.
“Our mission, as individual organizations and as participants in this effort, is to de-stigmatize anxiety disorders and get people who are suffering into support and treatment networks,” said Mary Guardino, executive director of Freedom From Fear, which along with the American Psychiatric Association and the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, sponsored the program. “It is very gratifying to learn that people who saw the social anxiety disorder campaign and called to receive more information felt it improved their understanding of this disabling condition and were prompted to seek professional support.”Campaign Fosters Better Understanding of Debilitating Condition
Although the majority of those surveyed (61%) said they had heard about social anxiety disorder before seeing the campaign, which included outdoor billboards that asked viewers to, “Imagine Being Allergic to People,” most felt it improved their understanding of the condition (78%), and helped them identify what they were feeling (75%).
Further, nine out of ten people (91%) surveyed reported that the availability of toll-free information lines are helpful in obtaining information about medical conditions. In addition, 82% said they believe the campaign contributed very much (51%) or somewhat (31%) to improving understanding of social anxiety disorder among the general public.
Awareness Prompts Sufferers to Get Information and Help
Many (62%) said the effort and their calls to the information line provided them with the motivation they needed to seek additional information about the disorder (60%). Nearly half of those surveyed (44%) said they sought professional help.
“The findings from this survey underscore how important it is for social anxiety disorder and other anxiety disorders to be discussed in the mainstream media,” said Jerilyn Ross, M.A., LICSW, president, Anxiety Disorders Association of America. “Not only does it help de-stigmatize these conditions, it also helps to motivate those who are suffering to seek the help they need.”
The telephone survey was conducted by InfoMedics, Inc., the leader in capturing the voice of the consumer on critical healthcare issues. Using a direct-from-consumer approach, InfoMedics leverages multichannel technology to collect clinical, quality-of-life and satisfaction information from consumers and provides real-world, clinically actionable data to physicians and other healthcare providers.
