Social anxiety disorder has social and economic burden

Editor—Schneier described the current knowledge about social anxiety disorder: common, underdiagnosed, impairing, and treatable.¹ Patients with this disorder commonly underperform educationally² and have a lower probability of marrying, a lower economic status, and a higher probability of losing their job. They are frequent users of the public health system.³ All these problems can be worsened if the social anxiety disorder is accompanied by other mental disorders.³

Some patients with phobic symptoms can work and try to adapt their life to their symptoms. The early onset of symptoms in adolescence interferes with the acquisition of social skills, resulting in social isolation.

Although psychopharmacological treatment is available for social anxiety disorder,⁴ most of the costs of the disorder are the result of lost income and disability among people who are receiving no treatment for their disorder. One of the astonishing things about anxiety disorders is how media educational campaigns result in a dramatic increase in the number of treated patients with these conditions; patients often have symptoms for years, with no awareness that others have similar symptoms or that specific medical treatment exists.

Education, information, and knowledge leading to an early diagnosis and treatment are key elements for lowering the social and economic burden of social anxiety disorder. The limitation of lives and the economic and social problems are always underestimated.