Social Anxiety Disorder: More Than Just a Little Shyness
Open accessAbstract
Social anxiety is defined as a "marked and persistent fear of social or performance situations" and includes such symptoms as sweating, palpitations, shaking, and respiratory distress. Social anxiety is fairly common, occurring in as much as 13% of the population, and can be extremely disabling. It can be either specific (confined to 1 or 2 performance situations) or generalized, and can be diagnosed with a scale-based questionnaire. Social anxiety may coexist with other disorders, such as depression and dysthymia. The differential diagnosis for social anxiety includes panic disorder, agoraphobia, atypical depression, and body dysmorphic disorder. Treatment for social anxiety can be quite effective and consists of psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy (including such medications as beta-blockers, anxiolytics, antidepressants, and anticonvulsants), or a combination. This article details the prevalence, onset, disease impact, and etiology of social anxiety. Specific treatments, including both psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy, are presented in detail, along with other treatment considerations, such as comorbidity.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Social anxiety generally starts during adolescence and can persist for years, or even a lifetime, if not identified and treated.
“Social anxiety generally starts during adolescence and can persist for years, or even a lifetime, if not identified and treated [10].”
From Social support, emotion regulation and mindfulness: A linkage towards social anxiety among adolescents attending secondary schools in Birgunj, Nepal (2020) · cites this paper as [10]
The PREVALENCE, ONSET, AND IMPACT section says social anxiety disorder usually begins in childhood or adolescence and is likely to persist. The TREATMENT section reports that patients have often been ill for decades. The source does not establish that onset is generally in adolescence rather than childhood, or that untreated illness can last a lifetime. (LLM, conf=0.87)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Liebowitz, M. R. (2015) · Modern Trends in Pharmacopsychiatry · doi:10.1159/000414022 · Cited by 2,266 · see citing works
Psychometric properties of the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN): New self-rating scale
Connor, K. M., Davidson, J. R. T., Churchill, L. E., Sherwood, A., Weisler, R. H., & Foa, E. (2000) · British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.176.4.379 · Cited by 1,624 · see citing works
Schneier (1992) · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1992.01820040034004 · Cited by 1,142 · see citing works
WITTCHEN, H.-U., STEIN, M. B., & KESSLER, R. C. (1999) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291798008174 · Cited by 745 · see citing works
The Genetic Epidemiology of Phobias in Women
Kendler, K. S. (1992) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1992.01820040025003 · Cited by 551 · see citing works
Mini-SPIN: A brief screening assessment for generalized social anxiety disorder
Connor, K. M., Kobak, K. A., Churchill, L. E., Katzelnick, D., & Davidson, J. R. T. (2001) · Depression and Anxiety · doi:10.1002/da.1055 · Cited by 537 · see citing works
Phenelzine vs Atenolol in Social Phobia: A Placebo-Controlled Comparison
Liebowitz, M. R., Schneier, F., Campeas, R., Hollander, E., Hatterer, J., Fyer, A., Gorman, J., Papp, L., Davies, S., Gully, R., et al. (1992) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.49.4.290 · Cited by 444 · see citing works
Social Phobia Subtypes in the National Comorbidity Survey
Kessler, R. C., Stein, M. B., & Berglund, P. (1998) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/ajp.155.5.613 · Cited by 398 · see citing works
Treatment of Social Phobia With Gabapentin
Pande, A. C., Davidson, J. R. T., Jefferson, J. W., Janney, C. A., Katzelnick, D. J., Weisler, R. H., Greist, J. H., & Sutherland, S. M. (1999) · Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1097/00004714-199908000-00010 · Cited by 392 · see citing works
Self-citationLow Dopamine D 2 Receptor Binding Potential in Social Phobia
Schneier, F. R., Liebowitz, M. R., Abi‐Dargham, A., Zea‐Ponce, Y., Lin, S., & Laruelle, M. A. (2000) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.157.3.457 · Cited by 325 · see citing works
Treatment of Social Phobia With Clonazepam and Placebo
DAVIDSON, J. R. T., Potts, N. L. S., RICHICHI, E., Krishnan, R. R., Ford, S. M., Smith, R. D., & Wilson, W. H. (1993) · Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1097/00004714-199312000-00008 · Cited by 265 · see citing works
Paroxetine in social phobia/social anxiety disorder
Baldwin, D. S., Bobes, J., Stein, D. J., Scharwächter, I., & Ml, F. (1999) · The British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.175.2.120 · Cited by 252 · see citing works
The impact of social phobia on quality of life
Wittchen, H. U., & Beloch, E. (1996) · International Clinical Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1097/00004850-199606003-00004 · Cited by 198 · see citing works
Social phobia: a pharmacologic treatment overview.
Jefferson, J. W. (1995) · PubMed · Cited by 185 · see citing works
Self-citationNeurobiological perspectives on social phobia: from affiliation to zoology
Stein, M. B. (1998) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s0006-3223(98)00265-0 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
Social phobia in the primary care medical setting.
Stein, M. B., McQuaid, J. R., Laffaye, C., & McCahill, M. E. (1999) · PubMed · Cited by 98 · see citing works
A Review of the Epidemiology and Approaches to the Treatment of Social Anxiety Disorder
Sareen, J., & Stein, M. B. (2000) · Drugs · doi:10.2165/00003495-200059030-00007 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Social phobia and alcoholism: a complex relationship
Lépine, J., & Pélissolo, A. (1998) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/s0165-0327(98)00089-5 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Discontinuation of Clonazepam in the Treatment of Social Phobia
Connor, K. M., Davidson, J. R. T., Potts, N. L. S., Tupler, L. A., Miner, C. M., Malik, M. L., Book, S. W., Colket, J. T., & Ferrell, F. (1998) · Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1097/00004714-199810000-00004 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Effects of intravenous caffeine administered to healthy males during sleep
Lin, A. S., Uhde, T. W., Slate, S. O., & McCann, U. D. (1997) · Depression and Anxiety · doi:10.1002/(sici)1520-6394(1997)5:1 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Psychotherapy in the overall management strategy for social anxiety disorder.
Baldwin, D. S., & Birtwistle, J. (1998) · PubMed · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Treatment outcome of obsessive compulsive disorder with comorbid social phobia.
Carrasco, J. L., Hollander, E., Schneier, F. R., & Liebowitz, M. R. (1992) · PubMed · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Anxiety contributes to suicidality in depressed adolescents
Ghaziuddin, N., King, C. A., Naylor, M. W., & Ghaziuddin, M. (2000) · Depression and Anxiety · doi:10.1002/(sici)1520-6394(2000)11:3 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors in the Treatment of Social Phobia
Ameringen, M. V., Mancini, C., Oakman, J. M., & Farvolden, P. (1999) · CNS Drugs · doi:10.2165/00023210-199911040-00006 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Social phobia: from shyness to stage fright
(1994) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.32-2421 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Gossard, D., Dennis, C. A., & DeBusk, R. F. (1984) · The American Journal of Cardiology · doi:10.1016/0002-9149(84)90341-2 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Pharmacotherapy for Social Phobia: What Works, What Might Work, and What Does Not Work at All
Ameringen, M. V., Mancini, C., Farvolden, P., & Oakman, J. (1999) · CNS Spectrums · doi:10.1017/s1092852900012517 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
The Mini-SPIN: A brief screening assessment for social phobia
Connor, K. M., Robak, K., Churchill, L. E., Potts, N. L. S., Katzelnick, D. J., & Davidson, J. R. T. (1999) · European Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1016/s0924-977x(99)80402-7 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Non-drug treatment for social anxiety disorder
Oosterbaan, D. B., van Dyck, R., Westenberg, H. G. M., & den Boer, J. A. (1999) · Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Lorberbaum (1999) · doi:10.1002/(sici)1520-6394(1999)10:3
Flagged first, then by citations
2 of the 32 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Research works printed but not linked: 10
- Burton R. The Anatomy of Melancholy, vol 1. 11th ed. London, England: Thomas Tegg, Cheapside; 1845:253
- American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association; 1994
- Connor KM, Davidson JRT, Churchill LE, et al. Psychometric properties of the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN). Br J Psychiatry 2000;176:379-386
- Katzelnick DJ, Kobak KA, Helstad CP, et al. The direct and indirect costs of social phobia in managed care patients. In: Anxiety Disorders Associa- tion of America, 19th National Conference; March 27, 1999; San Diego, Calif. Abstract 305R-3:82
- Lépine J-P, Pélissolo A. Epidemiology and comorbidity of social anxiety disorder. In: Westenberg HGM, den Boer JA, eds. Focus on Psychiatry Social Anxiety Disorder. Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Syn-Thesis Pub- lishers; 1999:29-45
- Hirschfeld-Becker DR, Fredman SJ, Robin JA, et al. The aetiology of so- cial anxiety disorder. In: Westenberg HGM, den Boer JA, eds. Focus on Psychiatry Social Anxiety Disorder. Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Syn- Thesis Publishers; 1999:47-79
- Mendlowicz MV, Stein MB. The biological basis of social anxiety disor- der. In: Westenberg HGM, den Boer JA, eds. Focus on Psychiatry Social Anxiety Disorder. Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Syn-Thesis Publishers; 1999:81-108
- Heimberg RG, Salzman D, Holt CS, et al. Cognitive-behavioral group treatment of social phobia: effectiveness at 5-year follow-up. Cognit Ther Res 1993;17:325-339
- Liebowitz MR, Heimberg RG, Schneier FR, et al. Cognitive-behavioral group therapy versus phenelzine in social phobia: long term outcome. De- press Anxiety 1999;10:89-98
- Lydiard RB, Bobes J. Therapeutic advances: paroxetine for the treatment of social anxiety disorder. Depress Anxiety 2000;11:99-104
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Potential Applications of Social Robots in Robot-Assisted Interventions for Social Anxiety
Rasouli, S., Gupta, G., Nilsen, E. S., & Dautenhahn, K. (2022) · International Journal of Social Robotics · doi:10.1007/s12369-021-00851-0 · Cited by 151 · see citing works
England, B. J., Brigati, J., & Schussler, E. (2017) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0182506 · Cited by 146 · see citing works
England, B. J., Brigati, J. R., Schussler, E. E., & Musgrove, M. M. C. (2019) · CBE—Life Sciences Education · doi:10.1187/cbe.17-12-0284 · Cited by 142 · see citing works
Social phobia in coeliac disease
Addolorato, G., Mirijello, A., D’Angelo, C., Leggio, L., Ferrulli, A., Vonghia, L., Cardone, S., Leso, V., Miceli, A., & Gasbarrini, A. (2008) · Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology · doi:10.1080/00365520701768802 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Cohen, M. J., Buzinski, S. G., Armstrong-Carter, E., Clark, J. L., Buck, B., & Reuman, L. (2019) · Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology · doi:10.1037/stl0000147 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Singh, R., Singh, B., Mahato, S., & Hambour, V. K. (2020) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0230991 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Social Anxiety Disorder: Associated Conditions and Therapeutic Approaches
Alomari, N. A., Bedaiwi, S. K., Ghasib, A. M., Kabbarah, A. J., Alnefaie, S. A., Hariri, N., Altammar, M. A., Fadhel, A. M., & Altowairqi, F. M. (2022) · Cureus · doi:10.7759/cureus.32687 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
The South African Society of Psychiatrists (SASOP) Treatment Guidlelines for Psychiatric Disorders
Emsley, R. A., Flisher, A. J., Grobler, G. P., Seedat, S., & Szabo, C. P. (2013) · South African Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.4102/sajpsychiatry.v19i3.942 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Adkins-Jablonsky, S. J., Shaffer, J. F., Morris, J., England, B., & Raut, S. A. (2021) · CBE—Life Sciences Education · doi:10.1187/cbe.20-08-0187 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Radiomics; A Potential Next “Omics” in Psychiatric Disorders; An Introduction
Alizadeh, M., Tanwar, M., Sarrami, A. H., Shahidi, R., Singhal, A., & Sotoudeh, H. (2023) · Psychiatry Investigation · doi:10.30773/pi.2022.0336 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Grobler, G. P. (2013) · South African Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.4102/sajpsychiatry.v19i3.946 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Quality of Life Perceptions in School-Going Adolescents with Social Anxiety
Farooq, S. A., Muneeb, A., Ajmal, W., Tauni, M. A., Mahmood, S., Qadri, S. K. S., Butt, A. Y., Mustafa, S. F., Sohail, S. H., & Rizvi, N. (2017) · Journal of Childhood & Developmental Disorders · doi:10.4172/2472-1786.100046 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Hammond, T. E., Lampe, L. A., Campbell, A., Perisic, S., & Brakoulias, V. (2021) · JMIR mhealth and uhealth · doi:10.2196/26603 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Prediction of Anxiety Disorders using Machine Learning Techniques
Kapoor, A., & Goel, S. (2022) · IEEE Bombay Section Signature Conference (IBSSC) · doi:10.1109/ibssc56953.2022.10037459 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Subjective, behavioral and neurobiological effects of cannabis and cannabinoids in social anxiety
Rosário, B. D. A., Lemes, J. A., de Lima, M. P., Ribeiro, D. A., & Viana, M. D. B. (2023) · Reviews in the Neurosciences · doi:10.1515/revneuro-2023-0078 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
A systematic review on physiology-based anxiety detection using machine learning
Shikha, S., Sethia, D., & Indu, S. (2025) · Biomedical Physics & Engineering Express · doi:10.1088/2057-1976/add5fc · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Zha, Y., Tang, Q., Jin, X., Cai, X., Gong, W., Shao, Y., & Weng, X. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1080099 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
The effect of social anxiety on social attention in naturalistic situations
Gado, S., Teigeler, J., Kümpel, K., Schindler, M., & Gamer, M. (2024) · Anxiety Stress & Coping · doi:10.1080/10615806.2024.2424919 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Dones, V. C., Yamat, K. S., Santos, K. E. P., Concepcion, A. V. M., & Lacson, M. A. R. (2024) · Acta Medica Philippina · doi:10.47895/amp.vi0.8140 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Alanzi, T. M., Almumen, M., Almogrin, M., Asiri, A., Alhalal, R., Almuslem, Z., Alharbi, M., AlShammari, M. M., Altammar, J., Almarhoun, A., et al. (2024) · Cureus · doi:10.7759/cureus.69270 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Alemayehu, Y., Hussen, M. A., Abdu, Z., Dule, A., Hajure, M., Mulatu, G., Gezimu, W., Alemu, S. S., & Wedajo, L. F. (2024) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1437891 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Ilyas, U., & Khan, S. D. (2023) · PubMed Central · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Kaluževičiūtė, G., Moreton, J., & Jackson, J. E. (2025) · International Journal of Mental Health Nursing · doi:10.1111/inm.70183 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Differences in the psychological portrait of a sociopath, sociophobe and introvert
Spytska, L. V. (2023) · Scientific Bulletin of Mukachevo State University Series “Pedagogy and Psychology” · doi:10.52534/msu-pp1.2023.87 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
The Gilgamesh Effect: The ethical consequences of disconnection
MacDonald, C. (2020) · Open Science Journal · doi:10.23954/osj.v5i2.2316 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Panday, H., & Jha, A. K. (2024) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-38971-9_43-1 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Psychosocial correlates of well-being among people who engage in online health-seeking behaviour
Roomaney, R., & Popovac, M. (2023) · South African Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1177/00812463231186335 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Affect-Sensitive System for Social Anxiety Support
Poprcova, V. (2024) · International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction Workshops and Demos (ACIIW) · doi:10.1109/aciiw63320.2024.00014 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Pride Following Recall of Personal Achievements: Does Social Anxiety Play a Role?
Lkhagva, T., Parsons, C. A., & Alden, L. E. (2024) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/s10608-024-10502-z · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Aspectos psicopatológicos de la desinhibición
Guimón, J. (2004) · Revista de la Asociación Española de Neuropsiquiatría · doi:10.4321/s0211-57352004000300003 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Put the Score on the Back Burner: Coach–Athlete Relationships and Anxiety
Peterson, T. (2019) · ScholarsArchive (Brigham Young University) · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Use of Virtual Reality for the Therapy of Children with Social Anxiety Disorder
Kovar, I. (2020) · Annals of DAAAM for ... & proceedings of the ... International DAAAM Symposium · doi:10.2507/31st.daaam.proceedings.076
WITHDRAWN: Researching Social Anxiety in an Online Sample of PatientsPreprint
Khalifa, S. (2021) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-1134881/v1
A General Review of Hoarding Disorder and Its Comorbidities
Chen, L., Shi, S., Zhang, M., & Zhao, Y. (2022) · Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research/Advances in social science, education and humanities research · doi:10.2991/assehr.k.220504.166
Modern Dating Applications and their contribution to increase of SAD in Young Adults
Rajeshirke, V., Tayade, P., Padmere, S., Suresh, A., & Deshpande, S. (2023) · International Conference on Advances in Science and Technology (ICAST) · doi:10.1109/icast59062.2023.10455022
Peran Tipe Kepribadian Neuroticism Terhadap Kecemasan Sosial Pada Wanita Dewasa Awal
Chrisnatalia, M., & Ashariyati, W. (2024) · Indonesian Journal of Behavioral Studies · doi:10.19109/ijobs.v4i1.22137
iSukoon: An App to Manage Social Anxiety in Designers
Arackal, M. N., Devadula, S., & Kumar, T. (2024) · Lecture notes in networks and systems · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-67431-0_31
Correlation of Anxiety and Interest of STEM Students in General Chemistry
Lagasca, S. G. M., Sapigao, J. C., Agne, J. M., Navoa, J. M., Sapaden, K. A., Peña, L. V. C. D., & Armando, J. C. (2025) · Psychology and Education A Multidisciplinary Journal · doi:10.70838/pemj.340809
Lv, Y., & Liu, Y. (2026) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1853496
- Authors
- Jefferson, J. W.
- Affiliations
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- Corresponding author
- Jefferson, James W.
- Venue
- The Primary Care Companion For CNS Disorders
- Publisher
- Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc
- Published
- 2001-02-01
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 4-9
- ISSN
- 2155-7772 (ISSN-L)
- 2155-7780
- PMC
- PMC181152
- OpenAlex
- W1964809195
- Cited by
- 41
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 3 · 2017: 2 · 2013: 2
- FWCI
- 0.50
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- The Primary Care Companion For CNS Disorders (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Bristol-Myers Squibb
- Eli Lilly and Company
- Pfizer
- GlaxoSmithKline
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychological Treatments and Assessments
- Keywords
- social anxiety disorder, prevalence, etiology, comorbidities, differential diagnosis, panic disorder, agoraphobia, atypical depression, body dysmorphic disorder, psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy, beta-blockers, anxiolytics, antidepressants, antiepileptic drugs, disability
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
