Social anxiety disorder

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a mental health anxiety where people are scared to talk to other people, thinking that they will embarrass themselves, not know what to say, say the wrong thing, be judged badly by another person or people or something unexpected happens that can range from something minor to something life-changing in a negative way.

Social Anxiety disorder is when an individual feels fear of socializing with others or fear or humiliating oneself in front of others.

Social anxiety disorder is distinct from the personality traits of introversion and shyness.^[1][2]

Causes

Exclusion theory

Social anxiety may come from the basic need to fit into a social group.^[3][4] Someone may be excluded due to unattractiveness, their inability to contribute to a group, or deviance from group standards.^[3] Due to the benefits of living in a group, an individual would want to avoid social isolation at any cost.^[3]

Knowing what is and is not seen as attractive to others allows individuals to anticipate and prevent rejection, criticisms, or exclusion by others.^[5] Humans are physiologically sensitive to social cues and therefore detect changes in interactions which may indicate negative reactions.^[3][5] Overall, social anxiety can help someone avoid what might bring anticipated social exclusion.^[3][5]

Genetics

It has been shown that a person is twice or thrice more likely to have social anxiety disorder if a first-degree relative also has it. This could be due to genetics and/or children becoming fearful of social interactions in the process of observational learning or parental psychosocial education.^{[6][clarification needed]} Studies of identical twins brought up in different families have indicated that, if one twin developed social anxiety disorder, the other was between 30‒50% more likely than average to have the disorder.^[6]

Impact

Social anxiety disorder can cause fear to someone with this type of anxiety, which can also affect their life if it is not treated soon.^[7] SAD patients can also be scared to go out and talk to people even if they were good friends in the past. This can cause depression and fear of the outdoor activities.