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Social phobia is the fear of one or more social situations. Some
situations that commonly make people with social phobia anxious
are public speaking, other types of
public performance, social gatherings, meeting new people, eating
in public, using public restrooms, disagreeing with others and speaking
to authority figures. Those with social phobia typically worry that
they will do or say something that will lead to embarrassment or
humiliation, or that their anxiety will be noticed by others who
will then judge them negatively. They will typically avoid the situations
they fear or else endure them with considerable distress. Social
phobia is not believed to differ qualitatively from the symptoms
of "shyness" that are reported by 20-40 percent of the
population. Rather, social phobia is seen as a more extreme form
of the same phenomenon, which is severe enough to lead to impairment
in life functioning.
The following may be symptoms of social phobia:
• fear of social situations
• worry about embarrassment or peer judgment
• performance anxiety
• effort to avoid social situations
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