Everyone feels shy or nervous occasionally, but for millions of Americans even signing a check or eating a sandwich in public evokes enormous anxiety, often leading these people to withdraw entirely from social contact. Long neglected by psychologists, social phobia has now been dubbed the â€disorder of the decade.†This important book, with its moving case histories, proves that this cruel condition need not doom a person to a life sentence of loneliness and despair. In his ten years of practice in anxiety disorders clinic, John R. Marshall has been a pioneer in recognizing and treating social phobia. Now he presents a vivid portrait of the disorder in all its many manifestations, from a paralyzing fear of eye contact to fear of shopping.