Essentially, researches were seeking to prove that psychiatric diagnoses are not “some kind of conspiracy” for people seeking attention.
While most researchers agree with the assessment that mental illness is very real, some are still not convinced that “social phobia” is a real phenomenon… they claim that the diagnosis is a fad and will soon give way to the next “big-thing” is the field of psychology. Opponents of the social phobia theory claim that because we live in a
culture that so heavily endorses therapy, shy teens are encouraged to conclude that they suffer from mental illness instead of recognizing that they are simply an introverted personality.
The National Institute of Mental Health characterizes social phobia as, “persistent, intense and chronic fear of being watched and judged by others and being embarrassed or humiliated by their own actions.”
Whatever your opinion on the issue of social phobia, we all need to work at getting rid of the negative stigma attached to mental illness... fear of being judged or mocked because of mental illness stops thousands, perhaps millions of people in our country from seeking the help they so desperately need.