Social fears are common, whereas Social Phobia is diagnosed infrequently. Therefore, we compared the clinical diagnoses (ICD-10) in an outpatient and CL service of a psychosomatic university hospital to patients' self ratings in social fears on the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS). Over the course of one year 688 patients could be characterized regarding their clinical diagnoses, LSAS-scores, symptom severity (SCL-90R) and psychosomatic complaints (GBB-24). Patients were assigned to three groups by their levels of social fears (LSAS). Social Phobia was diagnosed rarely by clinicians (5.5%), but generalized social fears (LSAS>60) were commonly reported by patients (14.6%). Patients with social fears reported higher distress and more psychosomatic complaints. They were more often diagnosed with Depression, Agoraphobia or Panic Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Effective manualized psychotherapeutic short-term approaches are available for patients with Social Phobia. Therefore, a better clinical identification of this group of patients is desirable.
Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart.New York.