Being nervous when dealing with other people or when one anticipates that is going to do something in front of others is very common. Most people might have experienced physical symptoms of anxiety (such as blushing, trembling or sweating) when facing important situations such as giving an oral presentation in public, having a job interview, meeting the in-laws-to-be, or having their first date. It is very likely to foster doubts about how the others would value them, and disturbing thoughts about spoiling one's self-presentation. And it also might be that the person wishes to be out of the situation the sooner the better. Although social anxiety is very common, the experience of the person having social phobia is much more severe, disturbing, and disabling.

Social phobia is defined by a marked fear (and, sometimes, avoidance) of situations where the person is afraid of acting in an embarrassing, ridiculous, or humiliating way in form of others, or that those others notice his/her anxiety. Social situations vary broadly, but are very common fears of initiating and maintaining conversations, going to parties or social gatherings, talking to people in authority, participating in classes or meetings, talking, writing, eating or drinking in public, etc. When the person with social phobia is in one of those situations he/she fears and believes that the others will notice their anxiety and will label him/her as weak, insecure, weird or foolish. Actually, he/she may avoid to public speaking because of fear of "running out of words"; or may refuse to eat or drink in front of others so they cannot see "my trembling hands"; or may refuse to be introduce in a meeting because "I'll turn cherry red". Anxiety symptoms are of diverse nature: palpitations, sweating, trembling, muscular tightness, blushing, dry mouth, mental blank, etc. Their intensity make the person believe that the others are also noticing his/her anxiety, which in turn becomes another source of worry and distress.

Besides the distress that is affecting the person, fear and/or avoidance is frequently another source of disturbance for one or several areas. The person may refuse invitations to go to parties because of the fear of not knowing what to say or he/she may remain withdraw because of the belief that is going to make a fool of him/herself. It could be that he/she does not promote at work because a promotion implies dealing with people or giving oral presentations. The person can obtain just average scores at school because of being unable to do an oral exam.

Several studies point out that 3% to 13% of the general population have social phobia. These figures might be even higher because people do not seek treatment for it, just because they believe that that is the way they are, and that there is nothing to do apart from resigning to live with the problem and trying to adapt oneself to its limitations. This is absolutely false: there are effective treatment programs to help people to overcome their social phobia.

It might be that while reading this site you identify yourself with the descriptions of the problem provided above. The Test questions inquire about the presence of some of its features. Although they do not substitute the assessment process necessary to establish a clinical diagnosis, they might be considered as a first approach and a preliminary screening of the problem.

If you also experience a significant distress, or any area of your daily life (leisure, work, school, family, etc.) has been affected by this problem, you might be suffering from social phobia. However, remember: this is just a first approach to the assessment process needed before starting any treatment. If you think you might have this problem, seek professional advice so you can decide whether you want or not to receive treatment.