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Shyness and social anxiety can be very detrimental to the quality of the lives of those who suffer from them. It is a common mistake to think that they are one and the same, but that is not the case. If you suffer from social anxiety, then you will display symptoms of shyness, but you can display symptoms of shyness, even quite severe ones, without actually having a social anxiety disorder.
Lets take a young girl being presented by her parents to a young boy as an example. The young girl will often feel shy and find it difficult to talk freely in front of the young boy. Social phobia on the other hand may inhibit the young girl from even showing herself in the presence of the young boy. So, social anxiety is really just an extreme amplification of the symptoms of shyness.
That, however, may not be entirely accurate since being in a subset varies only in degree when compared to the whole. Therefore, for a diagnosis of social anxiety to be made, someone must display more characteristics of social anxiety than just shyness. Perhaps, aside from avoiding the boy, the young girl should also manifest physical symptoms such as trembling or the inability to speak.
If the young girl in the example was only shy, that it is unlikely that she would be a social anxiety sufferer. Shyness is much easier to treat than social anxiety, and often regular exposure to, and interaction with, groups of people solves the problem. The same can also be effective in social anxiety. Thus it may be good to expose the subject to a small group of 1 to 2 people and then when the subject shows willingness, the group may then be placed in a slightly larger group composed of 3 or more people.
The good news is that both shyness and social anxiety are now treatable, as not so long ago medical professionals did not really know how to deal with them. Help is there for those that want it, and they should ask for it as soon as they feel that their problem is affecting their ability to make the progress in their life that they would like to. There are proven methods and techniques available that have worked on even severe sufferers, so you can rest assured that however bad you think your problem is, there is hope for you.
Now Try : Overcoming Social Anxiety Or Shyness And Social Anxiety
