Many people are a little bit shy, but those with social anxiety disorder (also called social phobia) can become overwhelmed with anxiety in simple social situations. Peter (not his real name ...

However, if you have social anxiety or social phobia, which is the fear of being around people, public speaking, initiating or continuing conversations. That's something that comes up every day.

The reticence that is characteristic of social phobia inhibits many patients from volunteering relevant information. In addition, some patients who have built their lives around avoiding their ...