Social anxiety disorder: how it differs from shyness, why it lasts and what helps

“Daeingipijeung” (literally “avoiding people”) is the everyday Korean word; the clinical diagnosis is social anxiety disorder, also called social phobia (National Center for Mental Health, 2019). The WHO’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) describes it as marked, excessive fear that keeps coming back in social situations such as having a conversation, eating or drinking in front of people, or giving a speech, together with a worry about being judged negatively, so that you avoid those situations or get through them with intense fear, for several months or more, with real distress or disruption to life. Feeling nervous before speaking in public is common and shyness is a normal personality trait, so it counts as a disorder only when the fear and avoidance clearly go beyond what is usual in your culture (WHO, 2024).

In the World Mental Health Surveys of over 140,000 adults in 26 countries, 4.0% had had social anxiety disorder at some point in life and 2.4% in the past year, and in half of them it had started by age 14. Korea was not part of that survey (Stein et al., 2017). Korea’s 2021 national mental health survey found a lifetime rate of 0.6% (1.0% of women, 0.2% of men) and a 12-month rate of 0.2%, with wide margins of error because cases were few (Rim et al., 2023). In Korean health-insurance statistics, 15,112 people were treated with social phobia (F40.1) as the main diagnosis in 2010 and 22,089 in 2025, and people in their 20s were the largest age group in 2025. These figures count people treated, not how many people live with it (Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, 2026). These Korean clinic figures include more men, while community surveys find more women. ICD-11 notes that the higher rate in women seen in the community does not appear in clinical samples, and that this has been attributed to gender role expectations, under which men with more severe symptoms are more willing to seek help (WHO, 2024).

mind.io does not offer a social anxiety test. This guide covers how social anxiety shows up, how it differs from shyness, introversion and taijin kyofusho, why it keeps going, what you can try in the moment, the treatments with evidence behind them, and where to get help. How it differs from other anxiety disorders is covered in anxiety symptoms.

Social anxiety arises in situations where you might be judged. Speaking in public, meeting new people, dating, job interviews, answering a question in class, asking for help or talking to a cashier, and even everyday things such as eating or drinking in front of others or using a public toilet, can bring fear of being humiliated or rejected (NIMH, 2025). In a US adult survey, the most common lifetime social fears were speaking in front of a group (21.2%) and speaking up in a meeting or class (19.5%) (Ruscio et al., 2008). For some people the anxiety appears only in performance situations, such as giving a speech, competing in sport or playing music on stage (NIMH, 2025).

In the body it can mean blushing, sweating, trembling, a racing heart, feeling sick or your mind going blank. You may hold yourself stiffly or speak very softly, find it hard to make eye contact or talk to people even when you want to, and be gripped by the thought that others will judge you badly (NIMH, 2025). Many people first mention worries about blushing, sweating or shaking rather than fear of being judged (WHO, 2024).

Everyone worries about social situations now and then, but with social anxiety the worry runs too strong before, during and after them (NHS, 2023a). People may dread an event for weeks and afterwards go over their performance looking for flaws (NIMH, 2025). It usually begins in childhood or the teenage years, most often between ages 8 and 15 (WHO, 2024). Panic attacks that happen only in social situations can be part of social anxiety (WHO, 2024). If unexpected attacks keep coming back, see panic attacks: what to do as well.

It is not shyness. The NHS describes social anxiety as more than shyness: a fear that does not go away and affects everyday activities, self-confidence, relationships and work or school life (NHS, 2023a). In a survey of over 10,000 US adolescents, 46.7% called themselves shy, but only 12.4% of them met the criteria for social anxiety disorder, and 5.2% of those who said they were not shy did (Burstein et al., 2011). Being shy does not mean having a disorder, and someone who does not seem shy can still live with social anxiety.

Introversion is the low end of the personality trait extraversion: being less drawn to the enjoyment and stimulation that come from meeting people and being active. Social anxiety is a fear of other people’s judgement, so the two are different things. Introversion is covered in Extraversion and introversion and extraversion, and sensitivity in HSP vs introvert. Social anxiety may not appear at all with close friends or with strangers who show no interest in you (National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, n.d.).

Taijin kyofusho, fear of blushing and fear of eye contact. ICD-11 says that taijin kyofusho in Japan and related conditions in Korea, a fear that others will be offended by your gaze, facial expression, blushing or body odour, may be a form of social anxiety disorder, while some presentations fit other diagnoses better (WHO, 2024). Japanese psychiatry has divided taijin kyofusho into fear of blushing, fear of eye contact, fear of one’s own body odour and fear of a deformed body; fear of blushing appears closest to social anxiety disorder, while fear of a bodily defect appears closer to body dysmorphic disorder (Hofmann et al., 2010). In a study of patients with social anxiety disorder in Korea and the US, 75% had at least one symptom of fearing they would offend others, so it may not be only an East Asian picture (Choy et al., 2008). If you are convinced that you give off an odour or have a defect in your appearance, and no amount of checking shifts it, talk to a professional.

Avoidant personality disorder describes a sense of not fitting in and a strongly negative view of yourself that have run through life since childhood. It overlaps a lot with social anxiety disorder, and telling them apart is a job for a professional (Lampe, 2015). It is covered in detail in the guide Avoidant personality disorder. If you feel that “everyone dislikes me” only while you are depressed, it may be part of depression (WHO, 2024). If you are being bullied, fear of your peers can be a natural reaction (WHO, 2024); get safe and ask for help first. If a child who talks freely at home cannot speak at all at school or with strangers, it may be selective mutism, so do not write it off as “just shy”: talk to a professional (NHS, 2023b).

According to the cognitive model, people with social anxiety believe it is very important to make a good impression, yet also believe they come across badly. On entering a social situation, attention turns inward to monitoring “how am I coming across?”, which makes it easy to miss that other people are in fact responding in a broadly benign way. They also assume they look as anxious as they feel, as in “my face feels hot, so I must be bright red” (Leigh & Clark, 2018).

That assumption tends to be exaggerated. Nervous speakers believed their nervousness was more visible than it was to the audience, and speakers who were told about this illusion in advance rated their own speech better and were also rated better by observers (Savitsky & Gilovich, 2003). In general, people overestimate how much others notice their actions and appearance (Gilovich et al., 2000).

The “safety behaviours” people use to get through also keep the anxiety going. Avoiding eye contact, preparing what to say in advance, wearing heavy make-up or agreeing with everything prevent you from discovering that the feared outcome was unlikely anyway. They can even cause or draw attention to the feared symptoms: covering your cheeks to hide blushing makes you hotter, and speaking very quietly makes people lean in and pay closer attention (Leigh & Clark, 2018). Hiding your face behind a mask, gripping a cup or microphone tightly to stop a tremor, rehearsing sentences in your head and asking question after question are other common examples (Yoshinaga, 2016). People with both high and low social anxiety felt their safety behaviours helped (McManus et al., 2008), which is why they are hard to let go of, and nothing to be ashamed of.

This may be why going into feared situations again and again does not always help. In a small study of 8 patients, staying in the same situation while cutting down safety behaviours reduced anxiety and belief in the feared catastrophe more (Wells et al., 1995). Before an event, people often picture in detail how badly it will go, and afterwards a brief relief gives way to going over it again and again (Leigh & Clark, 2018).

There is no single cause. A temperament that is slow to warm up to new people and situations (behavioural inhibition) is a normal variation but also a risk factor, and social anxiety can start suddenly after a humiliating or very stressful experience (WHO, 2024). It can last a long time, but in a review of community studies the share of people who recovered without treatment varied widely, from 36% to 93% across prospective studies (Vriends et al., 2014). It is not a character flaw but a condition with effective treatments (NICE, 2013).

Turn your attention outward. Focus on what the other person is saying and on the conversation rather than on how you look. The NHS advises focusing on what people are actually saying rather than assuming the worst (NHS, 2023a), and practice in focusing attention outward is part of cognitive therapy for social anxiety (NICE, 2013).

Drop one safety behaviour as an experiment. For example, make eye contact for a moment in a conversation where you usually look away, or say something without a sentence prepared in advance, and watch what actually happens. Cognitive therapy uses behavioural experiments like this to test feared predictions (Leigh & Clark, 2018; NICE, 2013). Break difficult situations into smaller parts and take them one at a time (NHS, 2023a). If bullying or a deep hurt is involved, do this with a professional rather than pushing yourself alone.

Nerves show less than you think. Knowing that your nervousness is less visible than it feels can help when you speak in public (Savitsky & Gilovich, 2003). In cognitive therapy, over 90% of people who watched video of themselves felt they looked less anxious than they had predicted; this was done within therapy, with preparation (Wild et al., 2023).

Do not lean on alcohol. It is easy to calm your nerves with a drink at work dinners or gatherings, but people with social anxiety are at higher risk of problems from using alcohol or drugs to ease their anxiety (WHO, 2024). In a survey of over 40,000 US adults, social anxiety disorder was linked to alcohol dependence (odds ratio 2.8), and in 79.7% of people with both, the social anxiety came first (Schneier et al., 2010). Slow breathing to settle the body is covered in how to relieve stress.

Afterwards it is easy to replay only the most awkward moments. Acknowledge progress, however small, accept that there may be setbacks and be kind to yourself (NIMH, 2025); how to build self-compassion has more on treating yourself kindly. Over weeks, you can keep a diary of what went through your mind and what you did in social situations, and practise difficult situations in small steps (NHS, 2023a; National Mental Health Information Portal, 2021). CBT-based books and online programmes also did better than waiting lists, and a little better with a therapist’s support (Mayo-Wilson et al., 2014). A meta-analysis of 30 studies (1,355 participants) of programmes for fear of public speaking found a medium-to-large effect (g = 0.74), with some signs of publication bias (Ebrahimi et al., 2019).

Cognitive behavioural therapy comes first. A network meta-analysis comparing 101 trials (13,164 participants) in adults with social anxiety disorder found that individual CBT with a therapist had the largest effects, and it was the only psychological therapy that still beat a psychological placebo (Mayo-Wilson et al., 2014). Pooling only the 12 placebo-controlled CBT studies (753 patients), the effect was small to medium (g = 0.41; Carpenter et al., 2018). In a German multicentre trial (495 patients), 60% of those who had CBT improved clearly and 36% reached near-remission, against 15% and 9% on the waiting list (Leichsenring et al., 2013). Know too that 30-40% do not improve enough with treatment (Stein & Stein, 2008).

The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends individual CBT developed specifically for social anxiety disorder first. With the Clark and Wells model, that means up to 14 sessions of 90 minutes over about 4 months, including exercises that show how self-focused attention and safety behaviours feed anxiety, video feedback, training in focusing attention outward, behavioural experiments, work on going over events before and after, and relapse prevention. Group CBT also works but is not recommended ahead of individual CBT (NICE, 2013). In Japan, a manual for CBT based on the same model uses 12 to 16 weekly 50-minute sessions (Yoshinaga, 2016). Internet cognitive therapy with remote therapist support matched face-to-face therapy on the main outcome in one trial, with face-to-face therapy slightly ahead on a behaviour test (Clark et al., 2023).

Medicines are described here by class only. Among medicines, SSRI and SNRI antidepressants did better than placebo (Mayo-Wilson et al., 2014). In a Cochrane review of 66 placebo-controlled drug trials (11,597 participants), SSRIs did better than placebo on treatment response, though that evidence was very low quality, and they were the only medicines with moderate-quality evidence of reducing relapse (Williams et al., 2017). Anxiety, agitation and sleep problems can briefly get worse at first, and the full effect builds over 2 weeks or more. If a medicine has worked well within the first 3 months, it is continued for at least a further 6 months, and the dose is reduced gradually when stopping. People under 30 should know that a minority have more suicidal thoughts or self-harm risk, so they should be checked often in the first month (NICE, 2013). If you have thoughts like these, tell your prescriber straight away, and call or text 988 in the US and Canada, or call Samaritans on 116 123 in the UK and Ireland. Medicines are not routinely offered to children and young people (NICE, 2013). Benzodiazepine anti-anxiety medicines are not routinely recommended because of the risk of dependence (NICE, 2013; WHO, 2026). Doctors sometimes prescribe beta-blockers for a racing heart and trembling in specific situations such as giving a speech (NIMH, 2025), but the evidence for them as a treatment for anxiety disorders is still weak (Steenen et al., 2016). If you already take any of these, do not stop suddenly; talk to the doctor who prescribed it. What can happen when you stop an antidepressant is covered in antidepressants and psychiatric medication.

If you are thinking about surgery (endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy) or botulinum toxin injections because of blushing or sweating, UK guidance advises against them as a treatment for social anxiety disorder, because there is no good-quality evidence of benefit and they may be harmful (NICE, 2013). France’s health authority likewise found that sympathectomy for fear of blushing had not been shown to work (HAS, 2007). If sweating or redness is itself a medical problem, have that symptom checked separately. Mindfulness did better than doing nothing but less well than CBT (Liu et al., 2021), and UK guidance does not routinely recommend it as a treatment (NICE, 2013). The studies suggesting exercise reduced social anxiety are small, so there is not enough evidence for it to replace treatment (Jazaieri et al., 2012). Combining medicine and psychotherapy was not shown to beat the best single treatment (Mayo-Wilson et al., 2014).

Talk to a professional when anxiety starts causing problems in daily life, such as avoiding social situations at school, at work or with friends and family (NIMH, 2025), when you rely on alcohol to get through, or when your mood is low or you have lost interest in things. In a German study that followed 3,021 adolescents and young adults for 10 years, those with social anxiety disorder had 1.49 to 1.85 times the risk of later depression (Beesdo et al., 2007). If your mood is low, see the depression check-in (PHQ-9) and depression symptoms as well.

People with social anxiety often see it as part of their personality rather than something treatable, and going to an appointment can itself feel frightening. UK guidance suggests considering a first contact by phone or online (NICE, 2013). In the 26-country survey, 38% of people with social anxiety disorder in the past year had received any treatment (Stein et al., 2017). If you live outside Korea, start with a family doctor or your local mental health services, and see the crisis lines just below. In Korea, you can get help from a psychiatrist or your city, county or district mental health welfare centre, and the mental health crisis line 1577-0199 (24 hours) connects you to a nearby centre (Ministry of Health and Welfare, 2025). The conditions for the 2026 counselling voucher are in depression: what helps. mind.io does not offer a social anxiety test; the anxiety check-in (GAD-7) looks at anxiety in general over the past 2 weeks and does not diagnose social anxiety disorder.

Anxiety disorders raise the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviours (WHO, 2026). In a study of Taiwanese health records, people treated for social anxiety disorder had a higher risk of suicide than those without it, and the risk was higher still with depression or alcohol problems (Wei et al., 2025). If you have thoughts of harming yourself, please do not carry them alone. Reach out to a crisis line right away: call or text 988 in the US and Canada, call Samaritans on 116 123 in the UK and Ireland, or find a line at findahelpline.com elsewhere. If you are in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services.

Q. Is “daeingipijeung” the same as social anxiety disorder? A. Daeingipijeung is the everyday Korean word, and the diagnosis is social anxiety disorder, or social phobia (National Center for Mental Health, 2019). At its core is not disliking people but fearing being judged negatively, which leads to avoidance (WHO, 2024).

Q. If I am introverted or shy, do I have social anxiety disorder? A. Not necessarily. Of US adolescents who called themselves shy, 12.4% met the criteria for social anxiety disorder (Burstein et al., 2011). It counts as a disorder when the fear and avoidance clearly go beyond what is usual in your culture and get in the way of life (WHO, 2024).

Q. I only shake when giving presentations. Do I need treatment? A. For some people, social anxiety appears only in performance situations such as presentations (NIMH, 2025). Nerves before a presentation are common, so it is worth getting help when avoiding presentations costs you opportunities or causes a lot of distress. Programmes for fear of public speaking had a medium-to-large effect (Ebrahimi et al., 2019). If it is exams that set off your nerves, see test anxiety.

Q. Blushing bothers me so much. Would surgery fix it? A. Sympathectomy and botulinum toxin injections to reduce blushing or sweating are not recommended in social anxiety disorder (NICE, 2013). Worry about blushing is a common form of social anxiety (WHO, 2024), and it is something cognitive therapy works on.

Q. Drinking makes it easier. Is that OK? A. It may feel easier at the time, but using alcohol to ease anxiety easily leads to problems (WHO, 2024; Schneier et al., 2010). You can get treatment for social anxiety even if you also have a drinking problem (NICE, 2013).

Q. If I start medicine, will I need it for life? A. If it works, it is continued for at least a further 6 months, and when stopping, the dose is reduced slowly with your doctor (NICE, 2013). Studies suggest relapse is common when medicine is stopped early, while the effects of psychological therapy tend to be maintained after treatment ends (Mayo-Wilson et al., 2014).

Q. Does mind.io have a social anxiety test? A. No. The anxiety check-in (GAD-7) looks at anxiety in general over the past 2 weeks and does not diagnose social anxiety disorder. If you are curious about sensitivity there is a sensitivity (HSP) test, but it does not screen for a disorder either.

Q. It’s so hard I’m having thoughts of harming myself. A. Please do not carry them alone. Reach out to a crisis line right away: call or text 988 in the US and Canada, call Samaritans on 116 123 in the UK and Ireland, or find a line at findahelpline.com elsewhere. If you are in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services.

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