If you suffer from social anxiety, you may feel you're the only person in the world who's experiencing these distressing symptoms.
Apart from being unlikely, however, this simply isn't the case.
Surveys show that every year around 15 million American adults (some estimates suggest it could be twice that number)-and almost two and a half million people in the UK-are affected with some form of social anxiety disorder.
So now you know that a vast number of people face the same challenges as you.
Knowing that other people are in the same boat won't necessarily help, but it's an indication that there's the possibility that someone will have come up with a solution-and perhaps a permanent cure-that can work for you.
One difficulty is that although many of the symptoms are similar, every case is unique because the condition affects every individual in a slightly different way.
Recent research suggests that the original cause of the trouble is likely to have been something which triggered your "fight-or-flight" reaction-your body's response to perceived threat or danger-and linked it to feelings of anxiety or fear.
Whenever fight-or-flight swings into action, adrenalin and cortisol are released.
These hormones speed up your heart rate, slow down your digestion, shunt your blood flow to the major muscle groups, and change various other involuntary vital functions.
All of this gives your body a sudden burst of energy and strength, which is fine if you're running away from a grizzly bear or dodging punches or falling objects.
What's not so good, however, is when the fear that triggered your response is purely imaginary and isn't based on anything that actually happened (someone came up with the acronym for fear as "false evidence appearing real", which is a pretty good definition).
If a link is established in your brain that ties together the fight-or-flight response and feelings of anxiety or panic, it forms a loop which can repeat itself whenever the same kind of situation occurs that started the reaction in the first place.
As I said at the beginning of this article, discovering that many other people suffer from this condition doesn't necessarily help you to overcome the problem.
But here's a practical suggestion if you're looking for anxiety support: join an Internet ezine or newsletter of people who share the same syndrome as you (just put "social anxiety ezines" or "social anxiety newsletters" into a search engine and register.
Several of these have forums attached.
Remember that you can be completely anonymous in these forums.
Quite apart from being able to discuss your feelings with other people whom you know won't criticize you in any way-as they've all been through it too-you'll find a ton of useful advice and suggestions.
One person said: "I found I needed to talk to people and I needed to let a lot of negative energy out.
" Others have found that relaxation techniques, breathing exercises (or any other kind of exercise for that matter) can help.
The first step towards helping yourself is to do some research: there's plenty of information available.
And remember that you don't need medication or therapy to overcome your anxiety.