1. Either of the following must be present
    • Marked fear of being the focus of attention, or fear of behaving in a way that will be embarrassing or humiliating;
    • Marked avoidance of being the focus of attention, or of situations in which there is fear of behaving in an embarrassing or humiliating way. These fears arc manifested in social situations, such as eating or speaking in public, encountering known individuals in public, or entering or enduring small group situations (eg parties, meetings, classrooms).
  2. At least two symptoms of anxiety in the feared situation must have been manifest at some time since the onset of the disorder, together with at least one of the following symptoms
    • Blushing or shaking
    • Fear of vomiting
    • Urgency or fear of micturition or defaecation
  3. Significant emotional distress is caused by the symptoms or by the avoidance, and the individual recognises that these are excessive or unreasonable.
  4. Symptoms are restricted to, or predominate in, the feared situations or contemplation of the feared situations.
  5. Most commonly used exclusion clause. The symptoms listed in criteria A and B are not the result of delusions, hallucinations or other disorders, sudi as organic mental disorders, schizophrenia and related disorders, mood [affective] disorders or obsessive compulsive dis6rder, and are not secondary to cultural beliefs.

Consider paroxetine theapy.