Social anxiety disorder is characterised by strong and persistent fears about being in social situations – often based on a dread that the individual will humiliate or embarrass themselves.
For some, social anxiety might mean worrying for several weeks about an upcoming event, for others social anxiety can prevent them attending social situations or even leaving the house.
Relationships can become hard to maintain as people with social anxiety may come across as being aloof or distant. They may lose friendships as they decline opportunities to go out or might cancel at the last minute and friends may feel let down. Often people with social anxiety feel shame about their condition and can’t be honest about how they are feeling – which means they may make ‘excuses’ which others don’t understand or believe.
It is common for people with social anxiety to become withdrawn, isolated and depressed and many will also suffer from depression, obsessive compulsive disorder and generalised anxiety disorder.
Common symptoms of social anxiety include:
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In order for a diagnosis to take place, it is important to consider all aspects of an individual’s life. There are 3 key questions that are often used when determining whether an anxiety disorder is social anxiety.
Social anxiety commonly arises during adolescence, perhaps because this is a time where we are exploring who we are and can be extremely sensitive to how others perceive us.
Often, symptoms of social anxiety will have diminished by adulthood, however it takes people an average of 15 years to seek help for their social anxiety . This delay in seeking treatment can make symptoms worse and may result in a greater risk of depression developing as well.
The anxiety test is an easy and anonymous way of finding out if the symptoms you are struggling with and how you are feeling is a result of anxiety. Your results may indicate whether you might benefit from treatment from one of our friendly clinicians.
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