Social Anxiety Disorder

Social anxiety is persistent fear of social situations that is out of proportion to the actual threat posed by the situation; it can severely affect quality of life. Only a minority receive help but effective treatments do exist and this evidence-based guideline aims to increase identification and assessment so that more people can be helped.

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Social
anxiety disorder is very common and often coexists with other mental health
problems. It can be severely detrimental to quality of life, with far-reaching
consequences for education, employment and relationships. Only a minority of
people with social anxiety disorder receive help, but this guideline
demonstrates that effective treatments exist and it aims to increase
identification and assessment so that people can access interventions to help
them overcome this disabling condition.





The guideline
reviews the evidence for the management of social anxiety disorder across the
care pathway in adults, children and young people. It reviews evidence for identification and
assessment, and compares the effects of pharmacological and psychological
interventions. Interventions for adults are compared using a network
meta-analysis. The guideline also contains a chapter on improving access to
services and the experience of care for people with social anxiety disorder.





The guideline
contains all the evidence on which the recommendations were based and further
data on a CD-ROM, including: Results of the network meta-analysis; characteristics
of included studies; GRADE profile tables that summarise the quality of the
evidence and the results of the evidence synthesis; meta-analytical data
presented as forest plots; economic evidence and results; and detailed
information about how to use and interpret forest plots.