We need a scale to rate the intensity of Social Anxiety.

JamieD

Well-known member
I was wondering, because i've always though i had it mild, but for example, today when i was in a shopping centre, i feel horrible, like everyone is watching me, i can't walk alone i have to have someone i know near me, i don't know where to look, sometimes have to have my arms crossed, stare at the ground, i physically can't look around a store without feeling severely out of place. I blush easy at the checkout. it's just horrible. The list goes on. Then what makes it worse is when somebody looks at you weird, it just reinforces your assumptions. If it was up to me i'd just find it easier to just not go, which i know is just basically letting SA win, because it reinforces your fear. But it's just so hard.

Does this SA sound mild or moderate or what?

Or if anybody knows any online tests that rate your SA?
 

Lea

Banned
I don't know what such scale would be good for. How would it help you to get better. I guess too much self analyzing will only make us worse, I personally prefer not to think about it :). Thinking about how I am only lets me down. I really prefer not to concentrate on it, rather concentrate on things to do, if I need to do something unpleasant, I just do it... if there are people staring at me in the shop, so what - I need to go there anyway. I think I got better in not caring, I just do these things routinely. When I was younger, I remember I was shy to ask in the shop what I want, I was nervous all the time while waiting in the queue. Same with buying ticket in the bus. Now I do these things routinely and don't even think about it. I am still definitely shy, but there are some little things around that can be made better.
 

Pookah

Well-known member
60 (fear) + 59 (avoidance) = 119

Greater than 95 - Very severe social phobia

I find with questionnaires they are too general when much can be said about feelings in a single situation.
 

Lea

Banned
I tried to do it and got 30 fear, 29 avoidance, but the problem with this test is, when they ask you about avoidance they automatically assume it it from fear but what if I avoid it from other reasons, simply because I don't want to go there? For example, I don't think I am particulary scared to eat in public places, but I prefer to eat on my own, in a quiet place. Similar with some other things.
 

megalon

Well-known member
I actually got zero on that scale. The questions aren't profound and subtle enough. Everyone, even someone without social anxiety should not be able to score zero on such a test.

I think someone who truly scores zero on that test could not possibly claim that they have SA or that they are even shy for that matter. You would have to be pretty f'ing confident to score zero.
 

Enialis227

Well-known member
I actually got zero on that scale. The questions aren't profound and subtle enough. Everyone, even someone without social anxiety should not be able to score zero on such a test.

The only way to get a zero is to answer never to every freaking question.

I don't normally outright say **** like this, but how could anyone possibly claim to have Social Phobia if you say never to all of those?
 

klytus

Well-known member
megalon said:
I think someone who truly scores zero on that test could not possibly claim that they have SA or that they are even shy for that matter. You would have to be pretty f'ing confident to score zero.

Enialis227 said:
The only way to get a zero is to answer never to every freaking question. I don't normally outright say **** like this, but how could anyone possibly claim to have Social Phobia if you say never to all of those?

I couldn't answer any of those questions with something else than "never". I would have had to lie - that is, I generally am very confident. And I changed a lot since I joined this forum.

Anyway, even for someone without social anxiety, such tests should always score above zero. Nobody is fully confident.
 

Enialis227

Well-known member
I couldn't answer any of those questions with something else than "never". I would have had to lie - that is, I generally am very confident. And I changed a lot since I joined this forum.

Anyway, even for someone without social anxiety, such tests should always score above zero. Nobody is fully confident.

No, there are people who don't have any trouble with any of those. I know at least one person who could score 0 on that test without a second thought.
 
I kind of agree with Lea... there's not much point to knowing, except to have something else to obsess over. Online tests can never be comprehensive enough to be accurate.

Also, I think that every individual is different for different situations... like for me, going to a store/mall/etc and walking around, making purchases, interacting with cashiers/store associates, you would say I have mild SA... but make me pick up a telephone and call someone I don't know very well and make idle chit-chat and you would think I had at least moderate to severe SA. So I don't think there is a clear cut answer... you just have to learn how to deal with the ways in which it affects you and limits your life.
 
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