SAD

What is your worst fear?

What do you fear most about being out in public/in a social situation?

Are you uncomfortable or embarrassed when you are the center
of attention, or when you are asked to do things in public like
speaking, eating?

Do you find it hard to interact with people?

Is being embarrassed or looking stupid among your worst fears?

Does fear of doing something embarrassing or humiliating cause
you to avoid doing things or speaking to people?

Do you avoid activities that put you at the center of attention?
Social Phobia (Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD))
A. A marked and persistent fear of one or more social or performance situations in which the person is exposed to unfamiliar
people or to possible scrutiny by others. The individual fears that he or she will act in a way (or show anxiety symptoms)
that will be humiliating or embarrassing. Note: In children, there must be evidence of the capacity for age-appropriate
social relationships with familiar people and the anxiety must occur in peer settings, not just interactions with adults.
B. Exposure to the feared social situation almost invariably provokes anxiety, which may take the form of a situationally
bound or situationally predisposed Panic Attack. Note: In children, the anxiety may be expressed by crying, tantrums,
freezing, or shrinking from social situations with unfamiliar people.
C. The person recognizes that the fear is excessive or unreasonable. Note: In children, this feature may be absent.
D. The feared social or performance situations are avoided or else are endured with intense anxiety or distress.
E. The avoidance, anxious anticipation, or distress in the feared social or performance situation(s) interferes significantly
with the persons normal routine, occupational (academic) functioning, or social activities or relationships, or there is
marked distress about having the phobia.
F. In individuals under age 18 years, the duration is at least 6 months.
G. The fear or avoidance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a
general medical condition and is not better accounted fro by another mental disorder (e.g., Panic Disorder With or
Without Agoraphobia, Separation Anxiety, Body Dysmorphic Disorder, a Pervasisive Developmental Disorder, or
Schizoid Personality Disorder).
H. If a general medical condition or another mental disorder is present, the fear in Criterion A is unrelated to it, e.g., the fear
is not of Stuttering, trembling in Parkinsons Disease, or exhibiting abnormal eating behavior in Anorexia Nervosa.







DSM-IV Diagnostic Criteria for Agoraphobia
A) anxiety about being in places or situations from which escape might be
difficult (or embarrassing) or in which help may not be available in the event of
having an unexpected or situationally predisposed Panic Attack or panic-like
symptoms. Agoraphobic fears typically involve characteristic clusters of
situations that include being outside the home alone; being in a crowd, or
standing in a line; being on a bridge; and traveling in a bus, train, or
automobile.
B) The situations are avoided (e.g., travel is restricted) or else are endured with
marked distress or with anxiety about having a Panic Attack or panic-like
symptoms, or require the presence of a companion.
C) The anxiety or phobic avoidance is not better accounted for by another
mental disorder, such as Social Phobia (e.g., avoidance limited to social
situations because of fear of embarrassment), Specific Phobia (e.g., avoidance
limited to a single situation like elevators), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
(e.g., avoidance of dirt in someone with an obsession about contamination),
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (e.g., avoidance of stimuli associated with a
severe stressor), or Separation Anxiety Disorder (e.g., avoidance of leaving
home or relatives).










DSM-IV Criteria for Avoidant Personality Disorder (301.82)*
A pervasive pattern of social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, and hypersensitivity to
negative evaluation, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as
indicated by four (or more) of the following:
1. avoids occupational activities that involve significant interpersonal contact, because of
fears of criticism, disapproval, or rejection
2. is unwilling to get involved with people unless certain of being liked
3. shows restraint within intimate relationships because of the fear of being shamed or
ridiculed
4. is preoccupied with being criticized or rejected in social settings
5. is inhibited in new interpersonal situations because of feelings of inadequacy
6. views self as socially inept, personally unappealing, or inferior to others
is unusually reluctant to take personal risks or to engage in any new activities because they
might prove embarrassing.