Social anxiety disorder is a fear or dread of social events or situations where people might judge you or notice you. This disorder can be connected to being shy. Most people who suffer from social anxiety disorder say it feels like a dread of upcoming events or a fear of being embarrassed by something you will do. Most individuals avoid situations that may put them in the spotlight or make other people notice them.

Three Kinds Of Social Anxiety Disorder

Performance social anxiety disorder is the type where the individual has a palatable fear of speaking in public or performing in public. The individual who suffers from performance or non-generalized social anxiety disorder usually feels this way only when he is obligated to face some number of people, but in general when socializing with other individuals on a personal level, he is alright.

Generalized social anxiety disorder is one that can affect an individual on many occasions such as social gatherings or talking to someone of importance. This disorder is the one that most commonly occurs to people. This is the disorder in its true form and not just a one-time occurrence where you just suddenly feel shy or nervous about performing in public. Sometimes even the most seasoned speaker gets nervous about speaking in front of a lot of people but people with the disorder always get nervous and have the urge to just clam up and flee.

Avoidant personally disorder is the social anxiety type that is the most extreme form of this disorder. This type of social anxiety disorder usually affects males and starts at an early age of the individual’s life. It can impair the socialization ability of most if not all individuals and make it harder for them to make friends and even get married. The individual really has a hard time staying at any event. Usually in school, they are just silent and hardly participate in class for fear of being ridiculed.

Causes of Social Anxiety Disorder

Social anxiety disorder can be a genetic quirk that you have inherited from your family. Just as some people get cleft chins from their parents or blue eyes from their ancestors, you can get this disorder that way. Chemical disturbances in our brain can also trigger social anxiety. Ongoing research may have found connections to our brain and the social anxiety disorder.

Some medication can alleviate the disorder although much study needs to be done regarding the psychological impact of social anxiety disorder on people.