Social anxiety disorder should not be taken lightly as it is a debilitating condition that can affect life in multiple ways. Early intervention is necessary and for that, a social anxiety test can really be helpful. We can help you with that matter, so let’s begin talking about it in the words below while covering all the points related to the social anxiety disorder test.
Defining Social Anxiety
Before we talk about the social anxiety test, we need to discuss social anxiety as a disorder first. This will put us in a better position to understand how a social anxiety disorder test actually works.
Social anxiety disorder (also called social phobia) is a debilitating mental condition that causes fear and anxiety when the affected individual is around a lot of people and is in social situations. While it’s normal to feel anxious in social situations, this anxiousness can get out of hand when someone is suffering from the aforementioned disorder, completely capable of becoming acute stress. An affected individual will have fear and anxiety about situations such as:
- Meeting new people and had no idea about them previously
- Huge social gatherings like house parties and formal dinners
- Presenting or acting in front of a crowd such as in a live play
- Making and taking phone calls involving more than two people, for example, conference calls
- Having food in front of people
- Meeting a prospective romantic partner
- Using the public restrooms
Around 5% to 10% of people around the world tend to have social anxiety and it’s more prevalent in women than men. It is also the third most common mental condition in the world, coming behind only after substance abuse disorder and major depressive disorder aka depression. It is vastly different from something like a specific phobia or GAD.
Read More: Social Anxiety Disorder Treatment: What To Know?
Do I Have Social Anxiety?
The greatest way to answer a question like, “Do I have social anxiety”, is to do a social anxiety test. While you can go for a straight-up diagnosis by consulting with an expert, early intervention (to find out if you need to have something like medication management as promptly as possible) can always be done if you end up knowing beforehand that you might have social anxiety through a social awkwardness test.
The question then becomes what kind of questions this test will have and do they need to be questions that are frequently seen in surveys and quizzes that involve multiple actions in terms of shape, a social anxiety disorder quiz is extremely similar. A great example can be seen on the website called Health Central, so let’s have a look at it:
“
- Do you feel anxious or panicky before social situations? *
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Very Often
- Do you fear that you will be negatively evaluated by others when in social situations? *
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Very Often
- Do you avoid social situations because of fear or anxiety? *
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Very Often
- Do you avoid situations, or feel uncomfortable, where you do not know people well? *
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Very Often
- Do you panic when you have to do something in front of others, whether speaking up in a meeting or presenting to a group? *
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Very Often
Read More: Is Social Anxiety Disorder A Disability?
- Is it easy to imagine that others are judging you as anxious, weak, crazy, stupid, boring, intimidating, dirty, or unlikeable when you are in a group setting? *
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Very Often
- When in social situations, do you worry that people will notice you are experiencing anxiety symptoms such as blushing, trembling, sweating, stumbling over your words, or staring? *
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Very Often
- Are you extremely conscious of your actions when in social settings because you fear they might offend someone or you could be rejected? *
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Very Often
- Do you experience significant worrying about being in certain social situations which is out of proportion to the threat posed by the social situation? *
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Very Often
- Are your work life, home life, social life, and/or relationships affected by your anxiety? *
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Very Often
”
Read More: Can Anxiety Disorder Cause High Blood Pressure? Insights About The Connection
The Benefits of the Social Anxiety Test
Please note that it is not a diagnostic tool and can be used to provide you an idea if the diagnosis is necessary and even just put your fears at rest for the time being. Tests like these are also capable of providing one with the motivation to go to a diagnostician or a psychiatrist and get one’s self actually tested.
Social Anxiety in Teens
If you think there are whole different sets of social anxiety tests but in the shape of social anxiety tests for teens then you are wrong as there are no other types of social anxiety tests. While there can be variations the standard stays the same and the format stays the same. It doesn’t matter if it is a social anxiety test for teenagers or not. Perhaps, it might be the case for ailments like MDD or ADHD, which are also extremely prevalent in children and adolescents.
Read More: A Guide to Understand Anxious Attachment
Conclusion
We are at the end of the line here and we hope you have understood everything. It’s not seasonal like SAD, or as bad as a mood disorder such as bipolar, social awkwardness is still a difficult mental condition that needs treatment such as an alternative one called telehealth psychiatry, and that too promptly. For that, a social anxiety test can provide a great overview and an answer to if you really need treatment. If it is the treatment one needs, then Orange Coast Psychiatry is totally adept at providing the much-needed treatment. We are looking forward to your treatment.
