Social phobia secondary to physical disability. A review of benign essential tremor (BET) and stuttering

Abstract

Persons with physical disabilities cannot be diagnosed as having social phobia under current DSM-III-R criteria. The DSM-III-R social phobia diagnosis excludes persons where a physical disorder causes the distress and phobic avoidance. However, the authors have noted in clinical practice that social phobia and physical disabilities sometimes coexist. A review of the published literature reveals that stutterers and BET patients frequently have social phobia-like symptoms. No prevalence data on comorbid DSM-III-R-defined social phobia were found in these groups (i.e., social phobia occurring in areas where the disability does not cause the distress and avoidance). Further research is warranted to determine the prevalence of social phobic behaviors occurring in conjunction with certain physical disabilities.