The Gift of Introversion

late childhood and early adolescence result in repeated social anxiety. Adolescents
have identified their most common anxieties as focused on relationships with peers to
whom they are attracted, peer rejection, public speaking, blushing, selfconsciousness,
freaking out, and past behavior. Most adolescents progress through
their fears and meet the developmental demands placed on them. More and more
children are being diagnosed with social anxiety, and this can lead to problems with
education if not closely monitored. Part of social anxiety is fear of being criticized by
others, and in children, social anxiety causes extreme distress over everyday activities
such as playing with other kids, reading in class, or speaking to adults. On the other
hand, some children with social anxiety will act out because of their fear. The problem
with identifying social anxiety disorder in children is that it can be difficult to determine
the difference between social anxiety and basic shyness.
Adults
It can be easier to identify social anxiety within adults because they tend to shy away
from any social situation and keep to themselves. Common adult forms of social anxiety
include performance anxiety, public speaking anxiety, stage fright, and timidness. All of
these may also assume clinical forms, i.e., become anxiety disorders (see below).
Criteria that distinguish between clinical and nonclinical forms of social anxiety include
the intensity and level of behavioral and psychosomatic disruption (discomfort) in
addition to the anticipatory nature of the fear. Social anxieties may also be classified
according to the broadness of triggering social situations. For example, fear of eating in
public has a very narrow situational scope (eating in public), while shyness may have a
wide scope (a person may be shy of doing many things in various circumstances). The
clinical (disorder) forms are also divided into general social phobia (i.e., social anxiety
disorder) and specific social phobia.
Disorder
Social anxiety disorder (SAD), also known as social phobia, is an anxiety
disorder characterized by a significant amount of fear in one or more social situations
causing considerable distress and impaired ability to function in at least some parts of
daily life. These fears can be triggered by perceived or actual scrutiny from others.
Physical symptoms often include excessive blushing, excess
sweating, trembling, palpitations, and nausea. Stammering may be present, along with
rapid speech. Panic attacks can also occur under intense fear and discomfort. Some
sufferers may use alcohol or other drugs to reduce fears and inhibitions at social events.
It is common for sufferers of social phobia to self-medicate in this fashion, especially if
they are undiagnosed, untreated, or both; this can lead to alcoholism, eating
disorders or other kinds of substance abuse. SAD is sometimes referred to as an
"illness of lost opportunities" where "individuals make major life choices to
accommodate their illness". According to ICD-10 guidelines, the main diagnostic criteria
of social anxiety disorder are fear of being the focus of attention, or fear of behaving in a
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