What Is Social Anxiety Disorder?

Social anxiety disorder (SAD), also know as social phobia, affects between 1.6% and 4.0% of children. Like other anxiety disorders, girls are more likely to be diagnosed with SAD than boys (Chavira & Stein, 2002). The defining features of SAD are excessive self-consciousness that is more than just common shyness. Individuals with SAD fear social or performance situations where they may face scrutiny or humiliation. The two subtypes of SAD are generalized and non-generalized. Approximately 75% of individuals with SAD experience the generalized type, which is characterized by experiencing distress in almost all social situations. Non-generalized SAD is characterized by experiencing anxiety in only one or two types of interpersonal situations, like public speaking. Generalized social anxiety disorder has high comorbidity with major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, specific phobias, and ADHD. Non-generalized SAD however has low comorbidity with other disorders. Children with selective mutism have a significantly high comorbidity rate with SAD, about 97% to 100% (Chavira & Stein, 2005).

Social phobia, more commonly known as social anxiety, defines itself as having a fear of scrutinizing judgement or embarrassment from peers or people of authority. One usually acquires this disorder from his or hers environment when growing up. The National Institute

In simple terms, social anxiety is a disorder that dramatically influences people's daily lives and their relationship with society [10]. In addition to this, social phobia leads people to experience excessive stress and deep fears intensively in a social situation [10]. It should be noted that social anxiety disorder manifests itself with various symptoms that can be listed such as blushing, sweating, trembling, tachycardia, nausea, stuttering, cluttering and more [11,12].

Social Anxiety Disorder affects more than 15 million adults in the United States (“Social Anxiety Disorder: How to Cope”, n.d.). Studies have recently placed Social Anxiety Disorder as the third psychological disorder in the United States, after depression and alcoholism (Richards, n.d.). The onset of most symptoms begins in early adolescence, around age thirteen (“Social Anxiety Disorder: How to Cope”, n.d.). Even with early onset, thirty six percent of people with symptoms report waiting ten years (or more) before seeking help (“Social Anxiety Disorder”, n.d.). Diagnosis can be delayed if the symptoms are minimized to be attributed to being merely shy or introverted. Other times, if the person has become socially withdrawn in response to their Social Anxiety, the behavior can be interpreted as being aloof or uninterested (“Social Anxiety Disorder: How to Cope”, n.d.). Further complicating timely diagnosis and early treatment is because many people with symptoms hesitate to talk about their feelings with others due to their fear of being judged negatively (“Social Anxiety Disorder: How to Cope”, n.d.). People with the disorder can be held back by their terror of feeling humiliated or embarrassed (“Social Anxiety Disorder”, n.d.). Left untreated, anxiety can interfere with social relationships, work, school, and the normal enjoyment of life (“Social Anxiety Disorder Social Phobia”, n.d.). The disorder can result in a low self-esteem, passivity, negative

Social anxiety disorder, which is also called social phobia involves overwhelming worry and self-consciousness about everyday social situations. The worry often centers on a fear of being judged by others, or behaving in a way that might cause embarrassment or lead to ridicule. The fear may be made worse by a lack of social skills or experience in social situations. The anxiety can build into a panic attack. As a result of the fear, the person endures certain social situations in extreme distress or may avoid them altogether. In addition, people with social anxiety disorder often suffer anticipatory anxiety, the fear of a situation before it even happens, for days or weeks before the event. In many cases, the person is aware that the fear is unreasonable, yet is unable to overcome it. (Goldberg)

Aloof, shy and interested are just some of the words to describe how some people perceive someone with social anxiety disorder. Approximately seven percent of adults in the United States deal with it. Social anxiety disorder, also known as social phobia, is a disorder where a person has an intense fear of a public or social situation. It first appears with a median onset age of 13, however it starts to show about 75% of the time between the ages of 8 and 15.

Social anxiety disorder (SAD), also known as social phobia, is the most common mental illness in the United States. About 40 million people suffer from this mental disorder. Many tend to confuse this disorder with shyness and nervousness, which are not considered a part of the phobia. Having a SAD can interfere with one’s daily life cycle. People who have SAD often starts to develop this illness during their childhood and adolescence years. Patients are affected with this mental illness for many years before being diagnosed. Past experiences in a person 's childhood can form and shape their lives so that they may end up having social anxiety disorder. Some past experiences like bullying, depression and low self esteem can lead to the fear of socially interacting or communicating with other people.

There are many people who are suffering from this consequential mental disorder identified as social anxiety. Social anxiety also known as social phobia, is a mental disorder in which a person has an irrational fear of interacting and communicating with other people due to the constant nervousness of being judged or criticized. People who suffer from social anxiety disorder tend to feel an intense feeling of uneasiness and worry whenever they are in a social situation where there are people present and are capable of condemning them. This leads them to feel humiliated, embarrassed, and even depressed.

Social anxiety is defined by the social anxiety institute as “the fear of being judged and evaluaded negatively by other people.”. The disorder is not just simply feeling uncomfortable in certain social situations, which is fairly common.This disorder could easily be misused to describe shyness or the actions of someone who’s an introvert. Shyness does not affect someone’s life the same way social anxiety does. Social anxiety is actually extreme social phobia and could ultimately ruin someone's life. When people suffer from this disorder, they may not even be able to do something as simple as going to the grocery store because they are so fearful of what others think of them. About 15 million Americans suffer from social anxiety. This disorder

Social Anxiety is not shyness; it is a real disorder that involves interaction with others. It is a fear of being judged by others and that judgment being wrong. It causes people to have anxiety and fear of failure. People with this disorder tend to be shy, withdrawn, and may seem to be unsocial since they fear judgement. Although people with this disorder want to be friendly, and want to be open and social in public situations, the fear of judgement and anxiety that it causes holds them back.

Among all anxiety problems, social anxiety disorder is most common anxiety issue and third most common problem in all mental complications (American Psychiatric Association, 2000; Hofmann & Bogels, 2006). SAD is a mental disorder which has a tendency to become chronic and badly disturbs normal functions of life if not diagnosed and treated in time (Beesdo-Baum, et al., 2012; Garcia-Lopez, Piqueras, Diaz-Castela, & Ingles, 2008). It is also among the most prevailing mental disorders and is described in Criterion A of DSM-V as “Marked fear or anxiety about one or more social situations in which the individual is exposed to possible scrutiny by others. Examples include social interactions (e.g., having a conversation, meeting unfamiliar people), being observed (e.g., eating or drinking), and performing in front of others (e.g., giving a speech)” (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). A specific amount of anxiety is always anticipated socially and helps an individual managing future threats (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). But having social anxiety means that anxiety is too much for normal functioning during social situations and often interferes with

Phobias are convoluted when a sense of fright comes in. When distinguishing a phobia from a fear, intensity is a crucial factor. Phobia provokes anxiety and “interferes with people's quality of life” as well as with their daily functioning; they spend an excessive amount of time making unnecessary changes to their day in effort to avoid being near to what frightens them. Whereas a fear is a strong emotion, its common presence among the lives of all humans distinguishes it from a phobia, a much stronger form of fear. One form of phobia, Social phobia, is also known as Social Anxiety Disorder, for it is an anxiety disorder defined by experiencing overwhelming anxiety and excessive self-consciousness in everyday social situations. When left untreated,

Social anxiety disorder (social phobia) can be described as an extreme, persistent fear of being scrutinized or judged by others in social situations. This fear may lead to feelings of embarrassment, humiliation and self-consciousness. People who suffer from this condition may “feel powerless against their anxiety” (ADAA). These emotions often interfere with daily activities, such as school, work and personal relationships. The person might begin to withdraw socially or avoid situations in which he or she is afraid. Millions of Americans endure this devastating condition every day of their lives. There are several causes, symptoms and treatments.

Social anxiety is “a feeling of discomfort, fear, or worry that is centered on our interactions with other people and involves a concern with being judged negatively, evaluated, or looked down upon by others” (Social Anxiety Support, 2014). Social anxiety can affect anyone. Individuals with social anxiety tend to prefer to keep to themselves because they are afraid others will judge them negatively and have a hard time interacting socially.

Social anxiety disorder, also called social phobia, is a disorder in which a person has an excessive and unreasonable fear of social situations. Social Anxiety causes intense nervousness and self-consciousness arises from a fear of being closely watched, judged, and criticized by others.