Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for an Arab College Student With Social Phobia and Depression

Abstract

Coexistent social anxiety disorder (SAD) and major depression can be highly debilitating and cause significant interference with social, occupational, and educational functioning. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has been shown to be an effective treatment for SAD and allows for flexibility in treating individuals of diverse cultural backgrounds. At present, treatment outcome research on the efficacy of CBT among Arab individuals with anxiety and mood disorders is highly limited. The current case study presents the implementation of a manualized CBT protocol for an Arab male with SAD and a secondary diagnosis of major depression. With attention to unique cultural influences on the development and maintenance of his symptom presentation, treatment consisted of 14 individual sessions, with outcome data yielding significant reductions in social anxiety, somatic anxiety, and depression at the posttreatment assessment. This case study demonstrates the potential efficacy of manualized CBT for SAD among Arab individuals and highlights the need for further systematic investigation using randomized controlled trials.