If you suffer from social anxiety there are several valuable sites which can help. The following sites provide particularly valuable resources :

http://www.socialanxietysupport.com

http://www.confidenceclub.net/socialconfidence.html

Social anxiety and social phobia are terms which are frequently used interchangeably. Sufferers have difficulty dealing with 'normal' levels of social interaction, and may feel anxious, nauseous, even terrified of situations which most people would barely register.

Since our lives are so heavily dependent on social interaction, social anxiety can be extremely limiting. Treatment includes medication, hypnotherapy and psychotherapy. The degree or scale of affliction varies markedly. Many doctors are still fairly unaware of the prevalence of this condition, which inevitably results in late or missed diagnoses.

It is inevitable that psychologists should regard themselves as the key practitioners in this field, but many sufferers report only limited success from psychological therapies. Self esteem, confidence and social confidence are all affected by this disorder.

Non-pharmaceutical therapies which have proven to be successful - particularly hypnotherapy - are sometimes ignored by physicians, who still often prefer to reach for the prescription pad.

Social anxiety can have devastating effects on adolescents. The condition is frequently masked by its consequences. For example, a socially anxious teenager might self-harm, with the resulting diagnostic focus falling on the self-harm activities rather than their cause.

Social anxiety is isolating. At the very point in their lives when young people should be forming deep and lasting relationships, they sometimes choose to become socially isolated.