This social anxiety test reveals if you are stressed in any way by social interactions and whether your anxious attacks might be caused by such situations. You can discover more about this concern and check an example message below the form.
How does this social anxiety test work?
This is a quick personality test that helps you evaluate if you have experienced social anxiety disorder symptoms, and if so, at what level you have confronted with them so far.
The social anxiety test comprises of four sections, each with questions and statements that target the most common social anxiety disorder signs and symptoms a suffering person might encounter.
Within sections 1 and 3 the assessment requests you to answer briefly by YES or NO to 16 questions with symptoms, while within sections 2 and 4 the test has 16 short statements with signs of social anxiety disorder where you are allowed to check as many as you experienced.
Please note that this test should NOT be considered as a substitute for any professional medical or mental assessment service.
Example message
Presence of social anxiety disorder symptoms: 25.00% - Mild social anxiety disorder
Based on your answers you seem to be undergoing mild levels of social anxiety disorder. There are few important social anxiety disorder related symptoms that bother you. The best advice would be to take a look at it and if you consider necessary you may search for a professional assessment of your mental especially if what you are experiencing now seems to be getting worse in time. Please note that only a licensed professional has the authority to officially diagnose an individual with social anxiety disorder symptoms.
What is social anxiety?
This is a disorder part of the anxious disorders which is characterized by patterns of persistent and overwhelming fear of social settings accompanied by avoidant behaviors. Such an individual is afraid of performing simple day to day activities in society for being overly self aware and because of this innate fear of what others might have to say.
Like for most mental disorders, the causes are put on a combination of biological imbalances in the brain, genetic predisposition and environmental factors such as an anxious, overprotective but critic upbringing.
Social phobia triggers
For individuals suffering from social anxiety most interactions are difficult and depending to their severity, have the ability to cause moments of crisis or panic.
-Meeting new people
-Presenting or public speaking
-Attending social gatherings
-Situations of criticism
-Interacting with important people
-Speaking in meetings
-Eating, drinking in public
Social anxiety disorder symptoms
The typical symptoms of this mental disorder can be classified in three subtypes as follows:
- Behavior:
-Avoidance of triggering situation
-Isolation from contact
-Dependence on someone else
-Substance abuse as coping mechanism
- Emotional:
-Excessive anxiety and self awareness
-Recurrent feelings of worry
-Fear of embarrassment
-Fear of humiliation
- Physical:
-Blushing
-Shortness of breath
-Increased heart beat
-Upset stomach
-Nausea
-Shaking, trembling
-Sweating
-Dizziness
Diagnosis and treatment
Diagnosis is based on a psychological assessment such as the Social Phobia Inventory that delivers a score of anxiety. There might be other types of assessments involved especially if the medical professional suspects other fear causes, substance abuse or presence of accompanying disorders.
Treatment consists mainly in psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy being the most effective example in either individual or group setting. In terms of medication the most used are antidepressants on slowly increasing dosage, usually selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors SRRIs which aim to reestablish chemical balance in the brain.
02 Apr, 2015