Overcoming shyness and social phobia

For people with social phobia, it’s better to disappear in the masses than to be the centre of attention. They are afraid that others will find them embarrassing or strange. — dpa

“Get a grip! It’s nothing!”

Many of Dr Peter Zwanzger’s patients hear remarks like this – before they decide to see him for psychotherapeutic counselling to treat their social anxiety. “That’s why I always give my patients words of encouragement in the initial interview, ” says Zwanzger, chief physician and medical director of general psychiatry and psychosomatics at kbo-Inn-Salzach Hospital in Germany, as well as chairman of the country’s Society for Anxiety Research (GAF).