If just the thought of social events makes you freeze, science may finally have a solution. New research shows that cognitive therapy can ease, or even erase, the symptoms of social anxiety.

Social anxiety disorder makes it hard for some people to function in group settings, and traditional treatment has focused on medications, talk therapy or a combination of the two. Nearly 85 percent of the participants in a study published by Norwegian researchers benefited from cognitive therapy, which is based on the idea that the way someone thinks about things affects how they feel emotionally. Helping people change their perspective can ultimately influence the way they act.

The researchers separated more than 100 people into four groups. One group received only medication for their social anxiety. The others got only therapy, a combination of medication and therapy, or a placebo. During treatment and right afterward, participants who received only therapy or the combination of medication and therapy fared equally well.

But a year into the study, researchers found that the cognitive therapy group members were doing better than all the others. Cognitive therapy boosted the recovery rate for social anxiety disorders by 20 to 25 percent compared with other forms of treatment.

Because medications used for social anxiety disorder can have side effects or actually camouflage the problem, researchers say the latest findings offer some hope.

For those who struggle with social anxiety, talking about those feelings could one day mean an end to the sweaty palms and dry throat that creep up during social gatherings.