Majority of young people with social phobia are frequently preoccupied with negative views of themselves.
These children are afraid they will speak or act foolishly, be rejected by peers, or publicly fail when performing school tasks.
Children with social phobia may in fact be less adept in social interactions.
When social phobia develops in childhood, the symptoms generally last at least six months, which distinguishes it from the temporary social awkwardness that many children briefly experience in new environments.
Peer relationships, school functioning and attendance, and family functioning may all suffer as a result of a child's social phobia.
Social phobia may look different in young people than in adults.
While adults recognize the excessiveness of their discomfort in social situations, children may not have that understanding.
Younger children with social phobia may protest when forced to leave a parent's side, have a tantrum when facing a social encounter, refuse to play with friends, or complain about physical illness at the time of a social event.
In contrast, adolescents may simply avoid group gatherings or describe little interest in friendships.
Childhood social phobia is often identified around age 12, at a time when children are expected to increase their social activities with peers and in school.
Diagnosing social phobia can be challenging, and children with social phobia may have more than one anxiety disorder.
A trained clinician (such as a child psychiatrist, child psychologist or pediatric neurologist) should integrate information from home, school, and the clinical visit to make a diagnosis.
At home, children with social phobia may have a combination of the symptoms listed below.
-Consistent and extreme fear of situations involving new people, in contrast to the child's ability to enjoy familiar people -Extreme fear of social and performance situations due to the child's worry about acting in an embarrassing way -Anxiety attacks when anticipating or attempting social interactions (such as going to a school party, speaking in front of others, or asking someone for a pencil).
Symptoms can be so severe as to resemble or include panic attacks: intense fear accompanied by heart palpitations, chest discomfort, sweating, trembling, nausea, numbness or tingling, hot/cold flashes, shortness of breath, and dizziness.
- Fearfulness with peers as well as adults.
While many people become nervous around social encounters, patients with social phobia may be essentially "paralyzed," unable to participate or engage with others.
- Avoidance of social situations.
Some children may cry, complain, or tantrum to avoid social encounters.
Other children may be able to tolerate these encounters only in the company of a familiar person.
- Severe distress in routine social situations such as starting or maintaining a conversation, talking to an adult, playing in a small group, or going to a party - School refusal due to worries about school and social performance - Reluctance to participate in ordinary outings or activities.
The child may not want to go out to dinner, meet friends to play, or engage in after school programs.
Some children or adolescents with social phobia may try to hide symptoms while at school.
As a result, they may appear to have more symptoms at home than at school.
With other children, the symptoms are particularly noticeable to teachers or staff because of the child's difficulty in social or performance situations at school.