How Distressing is Social Phobia?
I remember a friend in college who would blush, sweat, and tremble when required by a teacher to speak in class. A few weeks before the presentation, he’d be anxious, agitated, and couldn’t sleep. Because I was still a student then, I didn’t have any clue what he was going through. But I knew that something was terribly wrong. A few years ago while in the airport, I noticed a man who’d wait for everyone to leave the washroom before he’d use the urinal. He wasn’t comfortable that someone would see him urinate. In retrospect, I can say (now that I’m a psychiatrist) that those two individuals might have suffered from Social Phobia or Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). I just hope that they are doing well now but the symptoms that they manifested at the time were consistent with this devastating illness. How bad is Social Phobia or SAD? Social Phobia or SAD is a type of anxiety disorder characterized by extreme fear, anxiety, or distress when exposed to a social gathering or when doing somethi
