• About
    • Contact
  • Shop
  • Disclosures
  • Therapy
  • Become an Affiliate
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
About Social Anxiety

About Social Anxiety

Stop Worrying. Start Living.

  • Social Anxiety
  • Performance Anxiety
  • Social Skills
  • Self-Help
  • Recommendations

9 Types of Social Anxiety Disorders (Nobody Talks About)

May 29, 2018 by Arlin Cuncic, M.A.

1095 shares
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
*This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a commission if you choose to purchase through links I provide (at no extra cost to you). Please see my disclosure policy. If you need help finding a mental health professional, call 1-800-662-HELP (4357) or visit BetterHelp to chat with a licensed therapist for an affordable price.

9 Disorders Related to Social Anxiety

There are various types of social anxiety disorders. Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a specific diagnosis.

However, there are also a number of other disorders that involve varying levels of social anxiety.

Here I outline the different types of disorders that may show symptoms of social anxiety.

(*Note: We all know social anxiety can be hard to manage. This book on Amazon is the best I have found to deal directly with the problem. Listen for free with your 30-day trial of Audible.)

First, let’s consider what is meant by a mental disorder.

Definition of a Mental Disorder

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) states that a mental disorder….

“is a syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes underlying mental functioning.”

It goes on to state that these disorders are related to problems in social, occupational, and other life activities.

Selective Mutism

Selective mutism is defined in the DSM-V as a…

“consistent failure to speak in specific social situations in which there is an expectation for speaking (e.g., at school) despite speaking in other situations.”

It is classified as an anxiety disorder that causes interference with school or work achievement.

Children with this disorder do not initiate conversation and do not respond when others talk to them.

Often these children will speak in their homes, but not in front of anyone but immediate family.

This disorder involves a high level of social anxiety and may be diagnosed alongside social anxiety disorder.

Taijin Kyofusho (Japan and Korea)

In Japan and Korea, Taijin Kyofusho refers to a fear of making other people uncomfortable, such as by looking at them.

Paruresis

Paruresis is the fear of using public restrooms and is one symptom of social anxiety disorder.

How to Double Your Social Confidence in 5 Minutes"

Check out this free training offered by the experts at Social Self!

  • How to use "Conversational Threading" to avoid awkward silence
  • The proven way to get past boring small talk
  • Instantly beat self-consciousness with the "OFC-method"
  • Busting the myth that you have to get a "more interesting life" to be more interesting"

Start my free training


Glossophobia

Glossophobia is the fear of public speaking.

Avoidant Personality Disorder

People with avoidant personality disorder have the same symptoms as with social anxiety disorder, but their pattern of avoidance is broader.

Schizotypal Personality Disorder

In addition to other symptoms, individuals with this disorder may experience social anxiety and tend to have few friends or relationships.

They have trouble meeting new people, mostly out of paranoia and being suspicious, which does not tend to go away over time.

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism spectrum disorder involves impairment in social communication and social interaction across various contexts.

People with this disorder specifically have trouble with nonverbal communication, maintaining relationships, and social reciprocity.

Children with high-functioning autism often also have social anxiety disorder.

Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder (Stuttering)

Childhood-onset fluency disorder, previously known as stuttering, is listed as a communication disorder in the DSM-5. According to the DSM-5…

“The essential feature of childhood-onset fluency disorder (stuttering) is a disturbance in the normal fluency and time patterning of speech that is inappropriate for the individual’s age.”

It occurs by age 6 for 80 to 90% of affected people, with a range of 2 to 7 years.

However, 65 to 85% of children recover from stuttering and it does not cause them problems as an adult.

Interestingly, stuttering often disappears when people read aloud, sing, or talk to objects or pets.

Stuttering causes anxiety about speaking, though it is not strictly classified as an anxiety disorder.

Social Anxiety Disorder

Social anxiety disorder involves fear or avoidance of social situations in which you may be scrutinized.

These situations include meeting new people, eating or drinking in front of others, or performing in front of people.

The fear in this disorder is of being negatively evaluated, embarrassed, humiliated, or rejected.

In children, social anxiety disorder might result in refusing to go to school out of fear of being judged negatively by others.

Some people with this disorder only have performance-related anxiety, and are classified as a subgroup.

Social anxiety disorder usually involves anticipation anxiety, in which a person focuses on upcoming social situations.

It can be diagnosed as generalized or “performance only.”

Social Anxiety Resources

If you’d like to learn more about overcoming social anxiety, you can download a free copy of the report “Social Anxiety to Social Butterfly in 90 Days” from my resource library!

If you haven’t already, all you need to do is sign up here for my newsletter, and you’ll be sent instructions with a password to access the resource library.

The library includes other goodies such as a gratitude journal, CBT workbook, and coloring pages that you won’t want to miss.

Related Articles about Types of Social Anxiety

  • The 4 Types of Social Anxiety to Know About
  • 5 Kinds of Therapy for Social Anxiety
  • 5 Ways CBT Can Help Social Anxiety

WANT TO REMEMBER THIS? SAVE 9 TYPES OF SOCIAL ANXIETY DISORDERS TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD!

Woman sitting on dock with text overlay - 9 Types of Social Anxiety Disorders

9 Types of Social Anxiety Disorders



Here are some of my favorite social anxiety tools

Thanks for reading! I hope you found some helpful tips. Since this site is about social anxiety, I wanted to also share some tools I use that I hope you’ll find helpful. Some of these are affiliate links, so if you decide to try them, I’ll earn a commission. However, I only recommend things I have used myself and would recommend to a friend or family member.

Online Therapy: For online therapy, I have personally used and like the service offered by Betterhelp. It's easy to get started from the comfort of your home. You'll even get a discount on your first month of therapy when you use my link.

Doctor Visits: For doctor visits, Web Doctors offers convenient online appointments.

Audible Subscription: I recommend a lot of self-help books on this site, but I actually prefer an audiobook subscription over print books! My favorite subscription service is Audible because it has all the best-sellers and they stay in your digital library forever (even if you end your subscription). You can sign up for a free trial and listen to your first two books for free.

Social Anxiety Masterclass: The Social Anxiety Masterclass is my signature course where I walk you through everything I know about how to manage social anxiety. If you're not ready to enroll in the course, be sure to subscribe to my email newsletter to hear about special deals!

Filed Under: Diagnosis, Social Anxiety Tagged With: selective mutism, social anxiety diagnosis, social anxiety disorder, stuttering, types of social anxiety disorders

Previous Post: « Where to Find Anxiety Counseling Online
Next Post: How to Be Happy Alone »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Antonio says

    April 18, 2020 at 4:00 am

    Very interesting. I have social anxiety myself but didn’t realise there was 9 types.

    Reply
  2. Adam says

    June 23, 2020 at 8:25 pm

    This was a very interesting read, a few of them I didn’t know of before.

    Adam – http://daddoesautism.com

    Reply
  3. Meagan says

    November 26, 2020 at 7:54 pm

    I was made fun of alot as a kid because of my selective muteism.

    Reply
    • atorrin says

      November 30, 2020 at 11:47 pm

      I’m sorry to hear that.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Hi there, my name is Arlin. I help you stop worrying what people think so you can live the life you want. You can learn more about me here.

Looking for Something?

Footer

Amazon Associates Disclosure

About Social Anxiety is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliate sites. Click here to read the full disclosure policy.

Browse by Category

Browse by Date

Join 250,000+ followers!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2023 · anchored theme by Restored 316

1095 shares