Anyone can get it, however, people with family histories of anxiety or who have lots of anxiety themselves are prone. Often, sufferers have always been much more anxious than other people and may have always tried to avoid social events. Statistics say at any one time between 1-13% of the population suffer from it.

Some people find they become much more anxious after an event that they feel has not gone well. This one “disaster” plays on their minds and from then on they become much more anxious than they used to be.

You may have some or all of the following when asked to do things in public or to meet new people...

• A sense that something awful is about to happen to you.
• A fast heart rate that you can feel heavily (sometimes people even worry that their heart will explode)
• Lots of sweating
• Butterflies in the tummy
• Flushing
• Rapid breathing that may feel as if you are really short of breath and can’t get enough oxygen in.
• Dizziness and pins and needles in the arms may follow if your breathing is fast. You may even get chest pain.

The best thing is to talk to someone you trust and from there go to see your doctor or another health professional you can talk to. There are other anxiety/worry states that are similar to social anxiety at first sight so your doctor or therapist will have to ask you a few questions to find out what you’re going through.

Younger children may not believe they have any problems or even if they are aware of them may not be able to talk about them.

The good news is that milder symptoms can be tackled with behaviour therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Severely affected people may need medication. The most common medications used will be SSRI’s (see our Anti-Depressants page).

If you have other difficulties (and many people with social anxiety disorder have other forms of anxiety problems or depression) these will need dealing with as well, and sometimes first (see our page on Anxiety).