People with Social Anxiety Disorder experience significant anxiety in some or most social situations due to worries about being evaluated or judged negatively.
Although most people experience some social anxietyfor people with Social Anxiety Disorder (also called Social Phobia), these feelings can become so intense that they cannot function effectively.
People with Social Phobia are excessively afraid of being scrutinized, evaluated, or rejected by other people. They often worry that others will see how nervous they are and will think badly of them as a result. Because of their extreme fears, people with Social Anxiety Disorder often avoid social encounters. Some people fear and avoid only certain situations, such as giving speeches. Other people fear and avoid most or all social situations. These people are described as having Generalized Social Anxiety Disorder.
Some commonly feared social situations are:
- Speaking in public
- Being the center of attention
- Meeting new people
- Attending parties
- Talking with authority figures
- Eating or writing in public
- Using public bathrooms