yes, I was a little on the shy side, but once feeling comfortable with the situation, was fine. One thing I rememer is that my mother would say to people "Oh, she's shy" and then she would answer the questions posed to me by the visitors/friends. I didn't get the opportunity to speak up. Seems to me, it's o.k. if you flounder around a bit, let the responses come out naturally, hesitant or not. Although my mother was trying to be helpful, it didn't give me the chance to "grow" in social life.
I remember seeing a study on babies from around crawling age to 3-5 yrs. The first encounter was mothers and their babies placed in a large circle. Then they waited to see if the baby would crawl away from the mother towards some toys which were placed in the middle of their circle. Apparently, those who were reluctant to leave their mother's side to explore, were still shy types when studied in the later years. Those who had happily crawled towards the toys without worrying about leaving their mother's side, were found more outgoing.
The cause of Social Anxiety Disorder is still not yet fully understood. Some theorize that children learn shy behavior from their parents but it seems even more likely that there’s a genetic component to being shy. About 10% of children are described as being “high in behavioral inhibition” or shy, which means that they’re fearful in new social situations. This shyness seems to negatively progress throughout adolescence.
Most adolescents are very self-conscious and spend a lot of time worrying about what other people think about them. Most adolescents experience some anxiety in some social performance situations. If a shy child hits adolescence and becomes extremely self-conscious and worried about what other people think, that adolescent can be at risk for developing Social Anxiety Disorder.
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