The National Insitutue of Clincial Excellence has produced recent guidance to help professionals understand social anxiety disorder which is suffered by approximately 1 in 10 people, and is one of the more common anxiety disorders.

People who have the disorder have a persistent and excessive fear of social situations such as meeting people, speaking in public or eating in front of others to the extent where it can have an effect on work, personal lives and education.

The guidance can be accessed at
http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/index.jsp?action=byID&o=14168