How is Social Anxiety diagnosed?

HOW IS IT DIAGNOSED?

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM -5) of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) gives the following criteria for defining SAD:

• A persistent feeling of fear when in social situations or when called on to perform around people they don’t know well or where they may be judged. The person is worried that they will embarrass or humiliate themselves in front of others.
• Being in the social or performance situation causes anxious feelings and can even cause a panic attack.
• The person is aware that their fear of the situation is greater than it should be
• The person makes a major effort to avoid the anxiety-inducing situations, or if they must do them, suffers through them with great discomfort
• The social and/or performance anxiety causes major interference in the person’s ability to carry on their normal lives, academic or job performance, and personal relationships and social life and is really upsetting to them.
• The avoidance behavior and anxiety has been present for at least 6 months and is not because of a physiological problem or some other mental disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).

The clinician will look for signs of physical symptoms, avoidance behaviors, and cognitive stress. The most common physical symptoms are involved with what is called the beta-adrenergic system of the body, such as rapid heart rate and sweating. Avoidance behaviors are things like deliberately avoiding social situations and also lesser behaviors such as avoiding eye contact. Cognitive stress shows up as negative thoughts and worry about doing or saying something embarrassing. People with SAD have a very poor self-image and believe that others think negatively about them too (Alfano & Beidel, 2011).