You duck into the stairwell to avoid conversation in the elevator; you feign a heavy workload to get out of lunch plans; you live on ramen for days to keep from interacting with people at the supermarket. If this sounds like you, you may have social anxiety disorder (SAD), or social phobia, a condition in which simply being around people can cause extreme fear and discomfort, and even physical symptoms, like excessive sweating, dizziness, nausea and trembling. If a fear of interacting with people is getting in the way of your life, follow our three-step Ease Social Anxiety Action Plan to help pull yourself out of seclusion.

How withdrawn are you? Failure to connect with others may be a sign of social anxiety disorder. Take our assessment.

Shy or socially anxious? Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference.

The thought of answering the phone can make you break into a cold sweat. Do you show other symptoms of social phobia?