Shyness and Social Anxiety
23minutes, although it usually peaks immediately or within a few seconds. Also, to meet 
the full criteria for a panic attack, there must be at least four symptoms from a list 
of thirteen, including racing heart, chest discomfort, dizziness, breathlessness, shaking, 
stomach discomfort, sweating, choking feelings, hot ﬂashes or chills, feelings of unreality 
or  detachment, numbness or tingling, and fears of dying, going crazy, or losing control.
For those who suffer from social anxiety, panic attacks tend to be triggered by 
exposure to feared social situations or even just thinking about being in a feared situa -
tion. In addition, people who are socially anxious are often fearful of experiencing panic 
symptoms. Because panic-attack symptoms are often incorrectly viewed as a sign that 
one is about to lose control, it’s no wonder that people who are socially anxious would 
want to avoid having panic attacks in front of others. Even though people who experi -
ence panic attacks often are afraid of losing control, going crazy, fainting, having a heart 
attack, or experiencing some other physical or social catastrophe, such consequences 
are extremely unlikely. In other words, panic attacks are uncomfortable, but they aren’t 
dangerous. In fact, the symptoms often are not even noticeable to other people.
Perfectionism
Research from our organization (Antony et al. 1998) and elsewhere has found that 
social anxiety is associated with elevated levels of perfectionism. Perfectionists hold 
 standards that are unrealistically high and overly rigid. They may have exaggerated con -
cerns about making mistakes and often go out of their way to ensure that mistakes are 
avoided.
In social anxiety, people tend to place too much importance on making a perfect