In this episode, we delve into the science and struggle behind social anxiety disorder. This condition affects millions of people and often begins in childhood. We explore how the brain’s fear circuitry becomes overactive, and common treatments like SSRIs. We also highlight an intriguing new treatment being tested: a nasal spray of pheromone-like compounds aimed at calming fear responses.

References:

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American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Social anxiety disorder. In Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). 

Stein, D. J., Lim, C. C., Roest, A. M., De Jonge, P., Aguilar-Gaxiola, S., Al-Hamzawi, A., ... & WHO World Mental Health Survey Collaborators. (2017). The cross-national epidemiology of social anxiety disorder: Data from the World Mental Health Survey Initiative. BMC medicine, 15, 1-21. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12916-017-0889-2

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Stein, M. B., & Andrews, A. M. (2015). Serotonin states and social anxiety. JAMA psychiatry, 72(8), 845-847. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/2319710

Williams, T., McCaul, M., Schwarzer, G., Cipriani, A., Stein, D. J., & Ipser, J. (2020). Pharmacological treatments for social anxiety disorder in adults: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. Acta Neuropsychiatrica, 32(4), 169-176. https://doi.org/10.1017/neu.2020.6

Kaminski, R. M., Marini, H., Ortinski, P. I., Vicini, S., & Rogawski, M. A. (2006). The pheromone androstenol (5α-androst-16-en-3α-ol) is a neurosteroid positive modulator of GABAA receptors. The Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics, 317(2), 694-703. https://jpet.aspetjournals.org/article/S0022-3565(24)32659-X/abstract

Liebowitz, M. R., Salman, E., Nicolini, H., Rosenthal, N., Hanover, R., & Monti, L. (2014). Effect of an acute intranasal aerosol dose of PH94B on social and performance anxiety in women with social anxiety disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 171(6), 675-682. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24700254/

Monti-Bloch, L., Jennings-White, C., Dolberg, D. S., & Berliner, D. L. (1994). The human vomeronasal system. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 19(5-7), 673-686. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0306453094900493