Social anxiety disorder is the fear of social interaction and other aspects of social life. It is also a fear of confrontation or challenging situations. Anxiety disorder symptoms will rear their head every single day in a lot of cases, although social anxiety disorder can vary in its severity. Because many people suffer from social anxiety disorder for a majority of their lives they become quite proficient at hiding the problems and the symptoms. Often a sufferer will avoid situations that may lead to heightened anxiety and they can be mistaken for recluses or very solitary people when the problem is, in fact, much more serious.

1- If a person has extreme fear of social situations this is the first sign and one of the most obvious of anxiety disorder symptoms. It can be difficult to spot if the patient has become well versed at hiding the problems.

2- Any anxiety is much greater than you would normally expect in certain situations. Everybody is nervous or anxious about certain things but anxiety disorder symptoms are much greater.

3- Anxiety causing situations may cause anxiety disorder symptoms that are similar to those of a panic attack, however the two illnesses are very different and should be treated differently to one another. Blushing, sweating, trembling, tense muscles and other physical reactions are common anxiety disorder symptoms.

4- A fear of public speaking is quite common to people social anxiety disorder. Any social situation that involves a large degree of attention, or being the center of attention will cause the onset of all anxiety disorder symptoms.

5- An unwillingness to leave the house or even to have visitors round to their house can lead to both physical and mental symptoms. People with anxiety disorder struggle to attend school or work and some may even find it very difficult to go to shops or other places where they are likely to come into contact with other people or groups of people.