[Atypical displays of social phobia]

Social phobia is one of the most frequent psychiatric disorders, with a lifetime prevalence rate of about 3-5%. The diagnosis is relatively easy in the classical forms, with a meticulous interview when the context and the patient's complaints are in favour of this condition, but there are various cases in which the symptoms are not typical or in which other diagnoses are in the forefront. In this way, depressive and addictive disorders are frequent complications of social phobia but they often hide the primary diagnosis because of their severity. The initial and even the main complaint can also be a somatic symptom, which the patient can consider as the most disturbing, without linking it with his social anxiety. It is the case of the patients dreading to blush, shake, sweat, or to produce digestive noises in front of other persons. Finally, some social anxiety disorders have the deceptive appearance of aggressive or cold attitudes. In all these cases, the screening and the treatment of social phobia can have a crucial impact on the global prognosis, with possible significant and enduring improvements of the primary and secondary disorders.