[Social phobia: historical and conceptual perspectives]

Social phobia is individualized in international classifications only since 1980 with the DSM III, ten years after the publication by Marks of its phobic disorders classification. Nevertheless, many european authors, psychiatrists or psychologists, have raised the question of social anxiety as far back as the eighteenth century, with various points of view and appellations. The first report of an ereutophobia observation is due to Casper, in 1846, which described a serious social anxiety affecting a young man. Ereutophobia has been especially studied by Pitres and Regis, in 1807 and 1902, and by Claparede in a comprehensive review published in the same period. Janet has also proposed, in 1903, a classification of phobia including a section for social phobia. In 1910, Hartenberg has described several forms of social anxiety under the generic term of shyness (timidity, performance anxiety, personality disorders, etc.). Then, there is a relative silent period until 1960 even if the names of Kontaktneurosen or social neurosis are punctually mentioned in british and german literatures, and if Morita, in Japan, has taken an interest in social anxiety around 1930. The existence of social phobia as a valid syndrome A has been confirmed in the successive classifications since the DSM III. Several structured interview schedules or self-rating scales have been proposed for assessment of social phobia, such as Liebowitz or Davidson scales, but at present no one instrument has demonstrated superiority and the use of a battery of several scales is recommended. Moreover, some diagnostic issues are not yet completely solved, in particular concerning the validity of different subtypes of social phobia. To date, only the generalized type has been individualized in the classifications when circumscribed and performance types remain disputed. Delineation of social phobia with avoidant personality, shyness, performance and test anxiety, other phobic disorders and complications like alcoholism are discussed. Clinical, epidemiological and therapeutical implications of these questions are of importance from a theoretical but also practical point of view.