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Mental Health: Facts & Statistics
SOCIAL ANXIETY DISORDER
- Approximately 5.3 million American adults ages 18 to 54, or about 3.7 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have social phobia. – National Institute of Mental Health, 2001
- Social phobia typically begins in childhood or adolescence. – National Institute of Mental Health, 2001
- Characterized by overwhelming anxiety and excessive self-consciousness in everyday social situations. – National Institute of Mental Health, 2001
- Symptoms Include:
- A persistent, intense, and chronic fear of being watched and judged by others and being embarrassed or humiliated by their own actions
- Fear may be so severe that it interferes with work or school, and other ordinary activities
- Often worry for days or weeks in advance of a dreaded situation
- Physical symptoms often accompany the intense anxiety of social phobia and include blushing, profuse sweating, trembling, nausea, and difficulty talking
– National Institute of Mental Health, 1994
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Subsections:
Myths & Facts:
Specific Mental Illnesses:
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