However, for people with social anxiety disorder (SAD), this nervousness can turn into a debilitating fear of social interactions. According to the Diagnostic Statistics Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), SAD is a persistent fear or anxiety that occurs during social situations that can disrupt your daily life. “To be labeled as a disorder, it has to last for six months or more,” says Mosley.
For people who may need support for SAD, that fear can be so intense that they often prefer to avoid social gatherings altogether. It can also get in the way of their daily lives by making tasks like going to the grocery store, work, or just leaving the house feel impossible.
People who have social anxiety but don’t have SAD get anxious, too, but to a lesser degree. That said, “the experience can be very similar (to SAD) in some ways,” says Mosley. “The person can be afraid to put themselves out there, and they think a lot about social judgments. The fear is there.”
Treatment for SAD involves cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and/or medication to manage symptoms. If your social anxiety feels debilitating, like it’s preventing you from doing necessary everyday tasks, and you have access, you should reach out to a mental health professional. However, there are things you can do on your own to help alleviate more mild forms of social anxiety, and ease fears that may accompany social situations.
Where does social anxiety come from?
From biological and inherited factors to your familial environment and relationships growing up, there are a slew of reasons why someone may have social anxiety. Certain everyday factors, like our race, queerness, or transness, can also have a profound impact on social anxiety.
Queer and trans people are often hyperaware when navigating social spaces and have unique negative experiences that can result in symptoms of anxiety. “I think of folks being called by the wrong pronouns, or people making assumptions about us based on how we present and engage, when it can be difficult to show up fully in every space for safety reasons,” says Juana Teresa Rivera Capcha, MSW, LCSWA, and founder of PachaYaku Therapy.
For QTBIPOC, navigating nightlife can come with amplified anxieties compounded by the intersection of racism, transphobia, and queerphobia, among other factors. Knowing that many spaces, and even some queer spaces, are not meant for us can be an obstacle, particularly when not every body is read the same.
Mosley says many of her QTBIPOC clients have felt othered and marginalized in social settings because of their identities. “Having experiences of past traumas can make you more likely to feel fear in public spaces. I think of the number of violences that have impacted our Queer and Trans communities of color on the big and small scale and know it makes it hard for us to move through the world sometimes,” Mosley tells Them.
