According to This Way Up, social anxiety/ social phobia “is the fear of being the centre of attention, being evaluated negatively, or showing physical signs of anxiety in social situations. This usually leads to avoidance of certain situations, such as social gatherings and job interviews, or eating, speaking, and writing in front of others.

The key feature of social phobia is the fear of being scrutinised and being evaluated negatively by other people. A person with social phobia worries that they may do something embarrassing, or act in a way that may be humiliating (which includes showing signs of anxiety). The fear may be circumscribed to particular situations (e.g., public speaking) or may be generalized to most social situations.

Social phobia is often not recognised because these people are very uncomfortable in a clinic waiting room and do not like to talk about their fears. Clinicians often fail to make the diagnosis either because they confuse social phobia with normal shyness, or judge the secondary depression or substance dependence to be the primary disorder.”

If you, or someone you know struggles with social anxiety, the following digital referral card might help. It is a pdf, with clickable links to 9 online services/information sites that can help. Feel free to share around.

Click here to get card –> Social Anxiety Digital Referral Card_opt