Social phobia. Recognizing the distress signals.

Social phobia is a distinct clinical entity that accounts for significant morbidity. It is often linked to depression and other anxiety disorders and may be a risk factor for alcohol abuse. Primary care physicians can more easily recognize the disorder if they carefully question patients about anxiety in social situations. Effective behavioral and pharmacologic therapies for social phobia are available. However, primary care physicians may prefer to refer patients to a specialist because of inherent difficulties in treatment that may require the experience of a clinician more familiar with the disorder.