how many of us suffer from social phobias too?

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i suffered from social phobias in the past, and believe i got it under control by now. i wonder if aspies suffer from social phobias more than the general population, and have a suspicion we do.
do you suffer from social phobias? how bad?

pretty bad I think that people are looking at me judging me by my appearance and how I am dressed etc.....

For most of my childhood I wasn't really aware that other people had minds and thoughts about me really, I did have issues with feeling exposed and still do to some degree, e.g. I much prefer to be left alone to do something or try something out than have people stare at me or giving me advice, but it's more to do with my attention being ripped away from what I'm doing, and nothing to do with my worrying about being judged.

I guess I have the typical social phobia that stems from anxiety about having to wonder if you are picking up cues correctly, what to say to people as I don't see the point of small talk, whether people have an ulterior motive in talking to you (burned in the past), whether you are coming across OK etc.

Also, because I don't enjoy large groups of people due to the above meaning it becomes much harder work plus sensory issues, I would prefer to spend a significant time away from other people. They are noisy, loud, thoughtless etc.

It's such a struggle to maintain a social persona and come across as 'normal' that it's also too much hard work to socialise. I need a lot of alone time to sort my head out and de-stress from environmental input, that means keeping away from people.

Yes I suffer from social phobia and have always felt pretty self conscious when I am in the public eye or in front of a group of people. I recently realized how bad my social phobia is due to having a poor supervisor who was very verbally abusive and attacked my self esteem, etc. Now unfortunately I feel my social anxiety is worse than before and I am going to counseling and reading up on what I now realize I have, NLVD. It has helped me tremendously to read and post on WP and to read about NLVD and SA online.

Social phobia - and im a sociopath. Go figure
I hate ppl but i worry what they think - yaar what a combo.

For some things looks like I do, for some others looks like I'm not. I'll explain why:
Traits of social phobia I show:
- I hate crowded places;
- I may tend to isolate myself from other people;
- I feel anxious when going to stores;
- I'm extremely paranoid: I think that people are always staring at me;
- I feel uncomfortable when someone introduces me to someone else.
Why I DON'T have social phobia:
- I don't fear telling my opinions to people, and I neither fear defending them;
- I talk a lot;
- I don't fear going to parties IF there are just a few people;
- I don't look shy, at all;
- I don't fear speacking to people IF I'm talking about things I'm interested in;
- I interrupt people when they're talking sometimes;
- I don't have a very low self-esteem like most people with social phobia do;
- I don't feel inferior to others;
- I don't fear doing the wrong thing. This is actually my problems during social interactions: I don't realize it if I'm doing something wrong because I think all I do is ok;
- I don't fear being considered ugly or nasty from people.

So, after all, I don't think I have so much social phobia.

Kairi96 - doesn't sound like social phobia to me. I don't like being stared at or feeling exposed but it has everything to do with having my attention yanked from under me and nothing with being judged or what others may think.

I never suffered any social phobia. However, try to explain the difference between phobia and dislike to a shrink and you'll figure that's simply beyond his intellectual abilities.

I used to think I suffered from social phobia. At one point in my life, I probably did. However, I think I'm merely a very withdrawn person. I truly enjoy being alone most of the time.

Social phobia was the thing that defined me, from the age of 7, until my daughter was born. I was (and still am on occasion) selectively mute, paralysed by fear - are they going to laugh at me or shake their heads or talk about me..? I'm not paranoid, I'm just very aware that this is what has happened to me, many times. The phobia's still there, in the background, but I don't let it take over any more. However, I've not worked since my daughter was born, so I don't have the same pressures to interact as I had. Interactions are on my terms now, except if I get an invitation to a social event or have to go to a funeral, etc. Social phobia for me has actually resulted in me being avoidant and I tick all the boxes for avoidant personality disorder.

Strangely, I've been told that I come across as confident.

Certainly. Quite bad.

I thought social phobia was what my 'problem' was before I was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. I think SSRI anti-depressants and the SNRI anti-depressant I'm on now - Efexor have helped a lot with my social anxiety but I never feel at ease when out in public and always far better when back at home.

I see mixing with people as something I have to do every so often if I have to leave the house but I don't seek it out and have felt a lot calmer and better in myself the less I've pushed myself to go out just for the sake of going out. I live with a friend so I have company and this is the main thing I need. I just get very little from mixing with groups of people - frustration and depression is far more likely to result than pleasure so it's not logical to do it in my opinion.

As a child I didn't interact with people and was labelled as severely shy, I was a loner and always on the outside.

When I got to ~ 24, and started digging into why I was so different, I realised that I was lacking social skills and didn't know how to interact with people.

So now I have social phobia because I know that I don't know how to interact properly and I'm paranoid that I'll be found out. I try so hard with my "act" but I know I still don't have it sorted out, and know that I'll be caught out.

I don't suffer from social phobia, but it's possible that I suffered from it in the past.