Causes of Social Anxiety
It can be hard to pinpoint the exact cause of social anxiety disorder, and as with most mental health difficulties, it often results from a combination of different factors.
For most people, environmental influences and certain life experiences will be a big contributor to the reason they develop social anxiety. Social anxiety disorder often starts during teenage years or young adulthood. It can be a result of the way people have been treated or from a past negative social experience.
There is some evidence to suggest that you are more likely to struggle with social anxiety disorder if your parents have the condition themselves. However, it is impossible to know whether this is a result of genetics, learning, or due to parenting style being affected by the presence of social anxiety.
There is also evidence to suggest that how we are parented can have a big impact on how we feel in social situations and whether we develop anxiety. For example, social anxiety can stem from parents who are very controlling or overprotective, rarely show affection or give praise, or place a lot of emphasis on their child’s physical appearance.