The researchers speculate that the isolation brought on by social phobia contributes to the other disorders. Luckily, a variety of treatments can help. In clinical practice, psychiatrists are discovering that other drugs similar to Paxil, including Serzone, Effexor, and Zoloft, can also effectively treat social phobia, says Lydiard. They seem to work only in people with serious social anxiety, according to Davidson. Paxil won't turn a normally shy person into a social butterfly, in other words.
Medication is only one approach.
Psychotherapy can also help. In behavioral therapy sessions, patients are put in anxiety-producing situations in order to defuse their fears. So it turns out that chatting about this problem does help, as more and more social phobia sufferers are discovering by going online to share their feelings with others. Several social phobia experts believe chat groups are useful to patients with the disorder. Peter Jaret is a contributing editor at Health and National Wildlife magazines.