ABSTRACT
Social phobia is a common disorder, with between 3% and 13% (American Psychiatric Association 2000) of the population suffering from it at some point, and it is the second most common anxiety disorder. However, whilst over a quarter (27.8%) of psychiatric outpatients meet diagnostic criteria for social phobia, only 1.1% give it as the main reason for seeking treatment (Zimmerman et al. 2008). But social phobia does run a chronic course, with 63% still suffering from the original episode even after 12 years of follow-up (Bruce et al. 2005) and with social phobia occurring before alcohol dependence in 80% of comorbid cases (Schneier et al. 2010). Social phobia is a risk factor for subsequent depression and substance abuse (Stein and Stein 2008). Thus despite the low rate of treatment seeking with social phobia it is a major mental health problem. Further, the rate of treatment seeking is even lower when social phoba is comorbid with alcohol abuse or dependence (Schneier et al. 2010).
