"Shy." At a time, that word meant misunderstanding to me. I like talking to people. I see myself as adventurous and creative. I can also be anxious. At a time, anxiety could silence me. Today, it does so much less often. I can be quiet, but, as a person, I would not call myself shy.

A strong wish for social connection, matched with a barrier of anxiety, is what typically drives individuals living with social phobia to reach out for psychotherapy. In my experience, those struggling with social anxiety usually desperately want to be able to feel comfortable while in social situations. When a person feels unsafe, fear can present itself like an invisible wall between them and the rest of the world. Social anxiety makes it tricky to think of what to say or relate to others. Still, it is critical not to confuse a person's anxieties with their personality.

A study that compared the personality traits of 265 individuals with social anxiety disorder to 164 people without the diagnosis found that social phobia did not characterize a single personality type........

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