(no subject)
"Social anxiety disorder is most common anxiety disorder and the third most common psychiatric disorder over all (behind depression and alcoholism). If it's so common, why haven't we heard much about it? Because the nature of the problem keeps it hidden. "Can you see a movie-of-the-week," says psychologist Thomas Richards, "about a very shy person who rarely leaves the house except to go to work, who has no friends, and is afraid of answering the door at times?" Who would watch a movie like that? The authors of Painfully Shy said that after their first book (Dying of Embarrassment) was published, a television talk show called them and said, "We want you on our show if you can bring several articulate, outgoing social phobics with you." What the heck were they thinking? Social anxiety disorder doesn't get much coverage because anyone with the problem is trying to avoid the public eye."