Question
My daughter who is now 17 has had a history of social problems. In elementary school she refused to walk in to a room where people were already there because she was afraid of everyone turning to look at her. She would rather go hungry at a restaurant than order for herself from the waiter. She was terrified of talking to adults, say any parts in school or church plays, and became very upset when she thought people were "looking at her". In 7th grade we started going to a new church and she sat by herself for 3 years in our youth group because she though everyone else was "talking about her." Several times in her life she has had absolutely no friends, or has clung to a friend who was abusive or treated her like a doormat. We have taken her to counseling but she won't talk to the counselor, and had her tested for learning disabilities and several other disorders but she is normal. This never made any sense to us until I stumbled across a website on "social anxiety disorder" and the symptoms described her exactly. I'm not a fan of labeling behaviors that fall outside the norm as a disorder, but I wondered what your thoughts were.
