Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD)

SAD is an anxiety disorder in which people experience a distressing amount of anxiety whenever they are in a feared social or performance situation. A social situation is any situation that involves interacting with other people. A performance situation is a situation in which a person is concerned that what they are doing in public is being scrutinised or judged by others. Although it is normal for people to sometimes feel anxious in these types of situations, SAD is diagnosed when the anxiety interferes in a person's life and stops them from doing things that they would otherwise like to do.

People with SAD are concerned that they will do or say something that will be humiliating or embarrassing. They often fear that other people will see them blush, sweat, tremble or otherwise look anxious.

More details about SAD are provided by NHS Choices.  A charity in the UK helping people with SAD is SA-UK.