Cross-cultural aspects of social anxiety disorder

Advances in the neurobiology and psychopharmacology of social anxiety disorder (SAD) have reinforced a view of this condition as a prevalent, disabling, and universal medical disorder. At the same time, significant literature points to differences in the experience and expression of social anxiety and SAD across cultures. This article briefly outlines a theoretical framework for conceptualizing such contrasts between clinicians' interest in biomedical disease and an anthropological focus on illness, and then employs this to review cross-cultural aspects of SAD. Taijin kyofusho, or fear of interpersonal relations, is seen in the Far East, and is a particularly interesting exemplar in this context. A consideration of cross-cultural aspects of SAD has implications for clinical practice and future research.