I've met a lot of people online who suffer from various degrees of
social anxiety. Is this becoming more common these days, or is it
that the sufferers are finding it easier to meet people online and
talk, so you see more cases of it?

I think we're just seeing more cases of it now, because people with social anxiety feel free to express themselves via the computer.

I too think that we are seeing more cases out in the open now. I am not sure that there is really an increase in people who have it, but the internet has allowed more people with issues to come out and talk about them.

I think it is relatively easy to open up before people who don't know you and are less likely to find out about you.At the same time talking about your problems decreases the anxiety even if it's only a bit.I think the level of people with anxiety remains the same .It's only that being online makes it easier to verbalize it.

Hello,

I'm new here, so I hope you don't mind me adding my two cents. :)

I was diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder in grade 7. I've always been shy, but loved school and never had any problems with talking when I was there. In grade 6, I was bullied in a number of ways by the entire class, and the teacher, principal, and schoolboard all refused to do anything about it--they "didn't know what to do."

After that, I became more and more withdrawn to the point that I started skipping school at the end of grade 7, was rarely there by grade 8, and left school completely by grade 9. I became housebound.

For me, the Social Anxiety has its roots in Body Dysmorphic Disorder. Everyone's different.

But now that it's becoming more understood, I think people are simply more willing to open up and talk about about it themselves. Even now, despite what is known, people feel embarassed by it; I mean, everyone gets butterflies in their stomach before a big speech, but you just have to suck it up and get over it, right? People don't like to talk about it because most others don't understand how severe the anxiety is and how it can not only affect but outright control your life.

With the internet, people can anonymously vent... and people with SAD are often full of valuable things to say but are, in other situations, just to shy or scared to say it. I don't know if SAD is becoming more common (although with more social and business pressures in recent times, it wouldn't be surprising)... I think it's just finally getting some of the recognition and attention it deserves.

what exactly is social anxiety? Like when you just dont talk to the people around you??

Basically, not socializing in fear of embarrassing yourself or others. Also comes with some paranoia and inability to socialize when you force yourself to.

http://www.anxietynetwork.com/spwhat.html#top

Here's some info.

Yeah I think it's a little bit more than being shy. But it comes with feelings of being teased and vulnerability. Is it soemthing that you're born with or you develop it over time, I wonder?

It's more of a complex, so it's developed over time. Usually from being ridiculed and teased over the slightest thing, people need to be more aware how much damage little doses of a bad thing can do to someone.

Middle school aged kids can be so mean, it's ridiculous.  I know a lot of people who've just kind of fallen out of social groups and school because of how much they were teased.  One of my friends in seventh grade was really pretty and all of the girls were jealous of her so they teased her and would talk bad about her.  She was an awesome person, really nice but she let the teasing get to her and she ended up in an abusive relationship and chose to be homeschooled. 
But I think social anxiety can be cured.  With exposure and good/healthy relationships, people can learn to trust the world and be themselves without being scared of what people will think of them.  I use to be pretty shy during the first few years of high school, but after I started working at a restaurant, I was forced to interact with all kinds of people and I learned that most people are nice and fun to be around.  A good tool for meeting new people is to find something that you have in common with them and work from there.  You can find out a lot about a person within a few minutes in meeting them. And have confidence with the way you carry yourself and how you speak.  You can make a really good impression this way. :)

I'm not sure if I have social anxiety, but when I'm around a lot of people I don't know or there are too many people in a little room or when I have to give a speech or anything like that I have a hard time breathing and I start feeling very sick. I feel very nauseous, can't breath, start sweating and feel completely trapped. I thought though that I may be more claustrophobic..does anyone know what this could be or how I can better myself to try and overcome it. I went to counseling because all of this started about 2 years ago and she recorded a tape for me to listen to to try and relax myself, but it doesn't really help when I'm in public and not accessible to my tape. 

Hmm, did your anxiety come on suddenly or have you always had it?   You may have developed an anxiety disorder and might want to try visiting your doctor to recommend a treatment.  There's no reason to feel trapped and anxious to the point where you get sick.  You're going to be in many situations where you don't know very many people around you, and there's no reason that it shouldn't be a good experience.

Confession, it sounds like you have SAD, but there are a lot of ways to manage it.  Breathing exercises work well, and also your internal dialect is a big factor.  There's a lot of good info. on the net.  Apparently about 13% of Americans suffer from mental illnesses, with anxiety one of the most common. 

I had this when I was younger. Id talk to people only if they talk to me, but I'd try not to initiate converstions or even topics in a conversation I'd try to not laugh because they might think of me wierd. Even till now at times I wont do things because I get worried bout how people will think of me, like dancing around people I dont know. I wont do that. But I grew out of that phase I was in as a child, I'm the one that starts conversations now and topics and I'm not all that scared anymore.

It seems like most young kids are shy.  It's pretty uncommon to see kids strike up a conversation with other kids.  I think shyness is overcome by exposure.  For some people, it's just in their nature to be reserved and quiet, but when you get them around their friends and they feel comfortable, they can be loud and funny.

I think for many kids when they're around people they're comfortable with they could be open with others too. When I used to go to parties with my parents as a kid they would always tell me to go play with the other kids but I wouldn't want to just go there myself and play with them. However when I was hanging out with friends and there would be kids sitting with their parents I wouldn't mind going up to them and asking them to play with us. I'm not really shy anymore but I'm much more comfortable and outgoing if I know the people I'm around.

Sometimes it goes the other way around, a kid in my elementary school was the class clown he made us all laugh so much and was always the loud person in the class. I didn't see him much in middle school I had no classes with him but he was in my 9th grade english class and I was so excited to have him there again because that kid always cracked me up. But he was so extremely shy by then. He wouldn't talk at all i dont know what happened to him.