ABSTRACT
Social anxiety disorder, also known as social phobia, is characterised by intense fear in social situations. It causes considerable distress and impaired ability to function in at least some aspects of daily life. Social anxiety is very common in people with psychosis, affecting a significantly higher proportion than is affected in the general population. When a person enters a feared situation it activates assumptions about performance failure and showing anxiety symptoms. Developing a personalised understanding of the individual's social anxiety problems in the context of psychosis is vital as it is central to the development of appropriately targeted intervention. Symptoms of anxiety include cognitive symptoms, such as racing thoughts or one's mind going blank and physiological symptoms: blushing, shaking, sweating, stuttering, babbling, shaky voice, crying, trembling, and feeling hot, feeling paralysed and breathlessness. Safety behaviours such as mental rehearsal of what to say or avoidance of eye contact are used in a bid to avert the feared event.
