Social anxiety: Symptoms and Signs
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The symptoms of social anxiety can be divided into 4 main categories:
Category 1: The effects on your feelings:
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Category 2: The effects on your body:
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Category 3: The effects on your behaviour
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Category 4: The effects on your thinking:
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The signs of social anxiety
Technically speaking, in medicine, the signs of any condition are what you find on physical examination. In social anxiety, the signs will mainly be the result of your body’s physiological “fight or flight” response. These include:
- Increased blood pressure
- Increased pulse rate
- Increased breathing
- Pupil dilation
- Pale or flushed appearance
- Shaking
The overall picture
In practice the symptoms blend and link with each other.
If you suffer with social anxiety, you will usually, but not always, have some of the symptoms from each category. Sometimes it can be difficult to recognise the symptoms in yourself. This is because it has gone on for so many years, it has become normal for you.
Knowing the definition of social anxiety and the above list of symptoms, is a good start in understanding social anxiety. However, it is not the complete picture. For more of an insight, see the thoughts of a socially anxious mind.
Take care,
Paul
