First Published Wednesday, 11 March 2009
Psychiatry Weekly 2009 Mar 9;4(5)5
Van Ameringen M.
Social phobia typically starts in childhood or early adolescence, and it involves concerns about anxiety in social and performance situations.
“The primary concerns of those with social phobia are about doing something, or behaving in a way, that will lead to negative evaluation or embarrassment or humiliation,” says Dr Michael Van Ameringen. “There is no absolute known cause for this condition, although we know that there are familial and temperament-related predispositions that may be contributing factors.“
The estimated lifetime prevalence of social phobia in the US is 12.1%, a rate that has been replicated around the world-lifetime prevalence runs at around 10% across most cultures. Cross-sectionally, the rate of 12-month social phobia is 6.8%.
© 2009 Psychiatry Weekly, LLC
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