Frequency and Causes of the Social Phobia in Medical Faculty Students

Objective: Social phobia is the name given to intense feelings of anxiety, fear, self-awareness and shame that arise due of the fear of being observed or judged by others in the process of daily normal interactions. Clinicians also need to be successful in managing their social phobias due to their profession.
Methods: Therefore, 151 medical school students were asked about their socio-demographic characteristics and Liebowitz Social Avoidance Scale via e-survey.
Results: The results showed that the place where the students lived and the period they studied made a significant difference in the level of social phobia of medical school students. Social phobia scale scores of term 1 students were found to be significantly higher than those of term 3 students. Additionally, the social phobia scale scores of the term 1 students were found to be significantly higher than the term 4 students; and the social phobia scale scores of the term 2 students were found to be significantly higher than the term 3 students. Again, according to the data of our study: It was seen that the social phobia scale scores of those who stayed in private dormitories were significantly higher than those who stayed in their own house. Additionally, those who stayed with their families had a significantly higher social phobia scale score than those who stayed in their own house.
Conclusion: There are very few studies in the literature on the frequency of social phobia among medical school students. We believe that the results of our study will contribute to the literature.