A social anxiety disorder is a panic disorder in which the sufferer is afraid of, or anxious about, seeing other people. The severity of it can vary from being afraid of going into crowded areas (and thus being okay with going to small gathers of 3 or 4 people or having friends over) to being completely unwilling to step out of their home (agoraphobia).

The symptoms are the same as with any anxiety disorder which would include suffering from panic attacks which include shortness of breath, fuzzy eyesight, rapid heartbeat and pulse, high blood pressure, etc. The person may appear pale or very red and may get very hot or very cold. Basically their body will react in an extreme manner.

Being unwilling to go see friends or unwilling to go outside at all are also signs of a social anxiety disorder. The person may also verbally express how they dislike or even hate people (not certain people, but all people).

The treatments usually include medication such as an antidepressant to help stop the anxiety attacks on a long-term basis and a medication to help ease them when they do happen (such as Buspar).

Treatment should also include psychiatric treatment and cognitive behavior therapy. This can help broach why the person feels the way they do and help them change the way they think and confront the fear. It's possible for a person to do this themselves, but doing it under the guidance of a professional can make it more successful and can help if the person pushes too far too fast and suddenly becomes suicidal, depressed or has any other problems.

Group therapy can also help. The people around someone with a social anxiety disorder may love them, but, unless they have suffered from an anxiety disorder themselves, they will have a lot of trouble understanding it. Irrational fears seem stupid and even fake to other people. Those who love you may think they're helping by pushing you to do something that you find absolutely horrifying (such as going to the mall). They think they're being supportive, when in fact they're scaring the crud out of you. In a group therapy setting, which can be done online if the person doesn't want to face so many unknown people in person, can help connect you to people who also suffer from the same problem. They understand your fear because they have it too. And everyone is in different stages of therapy so there is always going to be someone there who knows exactly what you're going through and can tell you "This was really hard for me too, but once I found the right medication, once I faced my fear (insert different problem here) it felt so much better. Don't give up on yourself yet."