It starts out just fine. You get invited to a party. You plan what you're going to wear, dream about whom you might meet. Then the big night arrives and, wham, the excitement sputters into nervousness. You stand around awkwardly, nurse a drink and ogle the chatty people around you. You feel shy. You're not as alone as you think. Just about everyone is timid at some point, and plenty of people―almost half the population―qualify as shy most of the time. But what if every human encounter made you blush, tremble or perspire? What if your mind whirred incessantly with self-doubt ("I'm so stupid," "I sound like a moron")? What if an obsession about what others were thinking kept you from keeping a job, even getting married? You may be suffering from social anxiety disorder, a diagnosable mental-health condition.
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