Behavioral & Emotional Symptoms:

• Anxiety reaches such a point that daily tasks, school, work and activities become affected
• Avoiding situations where the sufferer feels he/she may be the center of attention
• Kids with possible SA tend to be worried about being embarrassed in front of peers
• Considerable fear of being in situations with strangers (people the sufferer does not know)
• Dread over how they will be presented to others
• Excessive fear of being teased or criticized
• Excessive fear that other people may notice that the sufferer looks anxious
• Excessive worry about being anxious, which makes the anxiety worse
• Excessive worry about embarrassment and humiliation
• Fear of meeting people in authority
• Having severe anxiety or panic attacks when in the feared situation
• Refraining from doing certain things or talking to people because of a fear of embarrassment
• The individual worries excessively about being in situations where he/she may be judged
• When in a situation that causes anxiety the sufferer’s mind may go blank

Physical Signs and Symptoms:

• A feeling that the heart is either pounding too hard or fluttering (palpitations)
• Abdominal pain and/or stomach upset
• Avoiding eye contact
• Blushing
• Children with SA may weep, have tantrums, cling to parents, or shut themselves out
• Clammy hands
• Cold hands
• Confusion
• Crying
• Diarrhea
• Difficulty talking; this may include a shaky voice
• Dry mouth
• Dry throat
• Excessive sweating
• Muscle tension
• Nausea
• Shaking
• Trembling
• Walk disturbance
  – the individual is so worried about how they walk that they lose balance when passing a group of people

This list is certainly not a complete list of symptoms — other feelings have been associated with social anxiety as well.

Individuals with social anxiety disorder sometimes underachieve at school or at work in order to avoid the attention of being promoted or having to participate in group tasks. In severe or chronic (long-term) cases of social anxiety the person may develop other psychological conditions, such as depression.

People with social anxiety disorder know that their anxiety is irrational and does not make “head” (i.e., cognitive) sense. Nevertheless, “knowing” something is not  the same thing as “believing” and “feeling” something. Thus, for people with social anxiety, thoughts and feelings of anxiety persist and show no signs of going away — despite the fact that socially-anxious people “face their fears” every day of their lives.

Only the appropriate therapy works to alleviate social anxiety disorder, the largest anxiety disorder, and the one that few people know anything about.