What's the difference between SA and 'shyness'?

[Hushman]

Some people disregard my problem, saying I am shy and this is a normal personality trait...

[Angel]

If.....Say when.............shit man, i dont know.

[callmeshady]

maybe SA is being extremely uncomfortable in social situation where u feel u must get out of it..or avoid them all together and being shy is being comfortable in social situations but just not talking to much and a little reserved?? maybe??

[Lawo]

well, i guess if anxiety is a handicap for you, it is SA;
if it is just an every-day challenge (but not a handicap!), it is rather shyness.

it's always hard to define..... maybe everyone has got a different idea about this question....

in my opinion, shyness may be helpful in some situations, for example to keep yourself away from (or not come to close to) weird people you probably woudn't be comfortable with.
but SA is "a bit too much" and aways harmful and bad.

[ardrum]

Not all shy people have SA, but SA will probably all show symptoms of shyness. It's just a matter of degree regarding interference in your life.

I've been shy all my life, but it wasn't a problem for all of my life.

[Fear]

Some people disregard my problem, saying I am shy and this is a normal personality trait...
that's the exact same thing with me
READ THIS:
Just Shy or Social Anxiety Disorder
Is social anxiety disorder just another name for being really shy?
By Gina Shaw
WebMD FeatureReviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MDMany 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) was a smart, savvy businessman with a PhD and a bright future. He had quickly climbed the corporate ladder, but when he was offered another promotion -- one that would put him at the top of his division -- he turned it down, jeopardizing his career. Why? The thought of being the center of attention in a major meeting, required in the new position, threw Peter into a blind, desperate panic, complete with physical symptoms like flushing, sweating, and heart palpitations.

Peter had what psychiatrists call circumscribed social anxiety disorder (SAD) -- an intense, irrational, and persistent fear of being scrutinized or negatively evaluated by other people. People with SAD, also known as social phobia, tend to be sensitive to criticism and rejection, have difficulty asserting themselves, and suffer from low self-esteem. Social anxiety disorder can be "circumscribed," like Peter's (he only feared being scrutinized at work), or "generalized" -- a much more debilitating condition that can make everything from walking to a table at a restaurant to attending your best friend's wedding a cause for sheer terror.

In February, two antidepressant drugs, Effexor and Zoloft, were added to a list of about a dozen approved medications for social anxiety disorder, sparking renewed interest in this little-known condition. Is social anxiety disorder just another name for being really shy?

Putting the Brakes on Life
Not at all, say many leading psychiatrists. "Many people are a little bit shy. If you're shy, you might be somewhat uncomfortable in situations such as going to a party where you don't know anyone, but you do it. You give yourself a push, you go to the party, after a while you relax and talk to people," says Rudolf Hoehn-Saric, MD, who heads the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "The social phobic person, at the prospect of the same party, would be overwhelmed by such anxiety that [he or she] would have a physical reaction -- perhaps nausea, sweating, heart racing, dizziness -- and would avoid it if at all possible. It's a matter of degree."

In other words, being shy can complicate your life. Having social phobia can stop it in its tracks. "The hallmark of social anxiety disorder is that it causes impairment in your function," explains Sy Atezaz Saeed, MD, chair of the department of psychiatry and behavioral medicine at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria and co-director of the University's Anxiety and Mood Disorders Clinic. A high school student -- many adolescents have social anxiety disorder -- might be so overwhelmed by the fear of standing up to give a report that he can't complete assignments and fails classes. For Peter, the businessman, social anxiety disorder endangered his career advancement.

"I've treated patients who are very competent, but have jobs well below their capacity because they're afraid of asking for a promotion or going out and looking for a better job," says Hoehn-Saric. This might explain why some 70% of people with SAD are on the lower end of the socioeconomic scale and nearly 50% fail to complete high school.


Just Shy or Social Anxiety Disorder
Is social anxiety disorder just another name for being really shy?(continued)
More Common Than You Think
How common is social anxiety disorder? Figures vary, but according to the most recent studies, about 8% of the population experiences social phobia in a given year -- making it the third most common psychiatric disorder, trailing only major depression and substance abuse. It's also widely underdiagnosed, says Saeed. "In one study, less than 1% of the patients with SAD were diagnosed and treated."

Part of the problem: SAD often accompanies major depression, in a which-came-first cocktail of mental health conditions, so psychiatrists may diagnose and treat the depression without taking note of the social anxiety disorder.

When it is diagnosed and treated, though, people with social anxiety disorder can look forward to major improvements in their lives. Saeed's patient, Peter, has seen his career take off after treatment for SAD. Hoehn-Saric describes a high school student whose social phobias were so great that he couldn't even enter the cafeteria at school; after struggling at several colleges, with treatment he found a small New England institution that understood his needs and is excelling academically and socially.

Most experts advocate a combined approach, using both approved medications and what's called cognitive behavioral therapy, to treat SAD. "Medication does decrease the general anxiety and also the depression that is frequently present in people who don't function so well socially," says Hoehn-Saric. "It can combat the surge of anxiety when you go into a social situation, and if you can diminish the initial responses -- chin quivering, hands shaking and sweating, face flushing -- if you take away those triggers, the person doesn't get into a vicious cycle of embarrassment."

But that's usually not enough. Cognitive behavioral therapy for social anxiety disorder usually involves "exposure" -- confronting the patient's fears. "First, people imagine the situation, and look at it as an outsider. How realistic are their fears? They're taught to reorganize their thinking, and then they expose themselves to social situations to decrease their anxiety," says Hoehn-Saric.

Group therapy often works particularly well for social anxiety disorder, since people with SAD are usually uncomfortable in groups and being exposed to other people. "They see that other people are like them, and they're doing better now, so there's some hope for them too. And as they start to feel more comfortable in a therapeutic group setting, they can transfer that to other social situations."

It's a long process. Don't expect social anxiety disorder to disappear after eight weeks of treatment, says Saeed -- closer to eight months or a year may be more realistic. "One of the difficulties with SAD is that since people have had it for so long, they've had to start avoiding things," he says. "Even when the symptoms are under control, unless you go out and engage in the activities you've been fearing, you won't know what your response is. So ultimately you have to face your fears."

I found it somewhere

[Richy]

Many people misunderstand this condition for shyness when it's not. Infact, they think I'm very rude and don't want to talk but it's not like that at all.

They don't understand.

[Fear]

they probably think you are cold or they believe you are superficial.I try to not do things that might them think this,but sometimes I even do even more stupid things.To feel comfortable or whatever I start to give too much confidence.I'm always balanced by the thought:"Am I inventing evrything to the point that I really wanna be ill,or there's really something not healthy in the nature of my behaviour?!"At that point I really feel stupid and complaining coz,I "cry" about something that doesn't exist.Other times when I feel scared,in danger (those typical feelings)I go back to the original thought.Do you relate to it? :unsure:

[fernandogress]

Like many mental illnesses that have things in common with natural reactions ,here is a continuum, a long line from being slightly shy and retiring through a totally non-functioning Social Phobia. At some point along that line — and that point varies by the individual simple shyness turns into Social Phobia. So a person can be severely shy, and as long as it is not impairing their life, they likely would not be diagnosable as having Social Phobia. Yet another person may be less shy but diagnosable because their life has become greatly impacted by their shyness.
The situations and reactions listed above are all common to both shy people and people with Social Phobia in fact, one of the lists comes from my reference article on Social Phobia.The difference is that people with Social Phobia find the situations overwhelming, they have excessive reactions to them, and they avoid them at all costs. Shy people may not be comfortable in the same situations, but they do not avoid them.

[Cissnei]

I think shyness is far more natural. Many, if not most people are shy. Being shy can be awkward and difficult but is pretty natural and an individual can normally do most things.

Social disorder or anxiety is a condition which prevents people from living their lives through fear, dread and panic.

So I would say the difference is that shy people are held back more by a lack of motiviation but CAN face it, whereas people in the throes of anxiety, really feel that they CAN'T conquer it.

[sem3720]

I get confused with this too. When I first meet people, I am actually very outgoing and not worrysome at all. But after some time passes, that when SA kicks in for me, and I have all of the classic symptoms. I think I am naturally outgoing, but events in my life, combined with my tendency for anxiety, had made me socially anxious with existing relationships only, not new ones. Weird

[Yovella]

How interesting sem. I have a similar type of anxiety. I'm fine when I meet people usually but after seeing them the second or third time my anxiety grows until I begin to avoid them because I can't handle it. As a result I have very few friends and even people who I am best friends with and sometimes even family I find myself not sure what to say to them or wishing I could get away.

My doctor diagnosed me with anxiety but I'm wondering after reading this thread whether I have SAD more than general anxiety. Because just like the article Fear shared I am reasonably confident in my abilities to do certain things but when it comes to scenarios that require social interactions big or small I get enormous amounts of anxiety and often feel very trapped or plain inadequate.

[Zanshin]

My doctor diagnosed me with anxiety but I'm wondering after reading this thread whether I have SAD more than general anxiety. Because just like the article Fear shared I am reasonably confident in my abilities to do certain things but when it comes to scenarios that require social interactions big or small I get enormous amounts of anxiety and often feel very trapped or plain inadequate.

This is wise - I think that often...a lot of these disorders are mixed up by the Docs. I was diagnosed with depression, then general anxiety. Now I realize that all of my troubles were related to social situations...

[topeka999]

I have SA but have always just been referred to as shy and reserved.
I always hate that moment after someone says something to me and I just nod or smile back. They just turn away awkwardly. I guess they think I'm being rude or cold or something, but it's not like that at all! I'm the kind of person that only talks when she has something to say - not just to hear the sound of my own voice. But I feel as though this trait gets me into trouble with other people and gives them the wrong impression, making it hard for me to make friends. And it's not like you can just say, "I'm sorry, I have nothing to say". They just get the wrong idea again. What to do?!