Social Anxiety Groups

Social Anxiety refers to fear, apprehension and nervousness people experience in relation to any social situation. Typically social anxiety is defined by fear of negative evaluation and embarrassment. We all experience social anxiety to some degree in our lives, but for some people it can take over their lives, leaving them lonely and depressed. When social anxiety starts to interfere too much with a person’s life it is often called social anxiety disorder (synonymous with social phobia). Some people may also refer to this as extreme shyness.

Due to the fact that everyone experiences some social anxiety and generally people exist along a continuum of varying degrees of social anxiety, Social Anxiety Groups prefers the term severe social anxiety compared to social anxiety disorder or social phobia. We do not consider it appropriate or technically correct to call severe social anxiety a disorder or phobia.

People who experience severe social anxiety get locked into vicious cycles. These cycles are generally perpetuated by negatively biased thinking habits and avoidance behaviours. These prevent sufferers from building confidence and experiencing social success.

Common fears include people noticing anxious blushing, sweating or shaking, not being able to think of anything to say or appearing weird, boring or stupid. More information about the physical and mental symptoms of severe social anxiety, as well as common behaviours and feared situations can be found at www.socialanxiety.co.uk.

It is common for people with severe social anxiety to also experience other anxieties and depression. Unfortunately, it is also common for sufferers to end up self-medicating with drugs or alcohol to cope with their social fears which can lead to dependence.