How common is social anxiety?
If you have social anxiety disorder you’re not alone:
- around 11 per cent of Australians experience social anxiety during their lifetime
- around 7 per cent experience social anxiety in any 12-month period.
Download our Social Phobia fact sheet (PDF, 2781KB).
Signs and symptoms of social anxiety
Common symptoms of social anxiety include physical and psychological symptoms.
When symptoms can happen
Social anxiety may happen before or during:
- performing in front of others - such as giving a speech or being watched while you work
- social situations – such as meeting new people or having a meal with friends
- specific situations – for example, you might feel calm at work but have a specific fear of talking to people at parties.
Feelings
If you can’t avoid a situation you can become extremely anxious and distressed. You might try to leave the situation as soon as you can.Thoughts
You may worry excessively that you’ll do or say the wrong thing and that something terrible will happen as a result.Physical symptoms
You might experience:
- excessive perspiration
- trembling
- blushing or stammering when trying to speak
- nausea or diarrhoea.
