Assessment and treatment of social anxiety disorder.

Despite being associated with a high degree of distress, disability. and functional limitation, social anxiety disorder (SAD) often goes undetected and untreated. The disorder is receiving increased attention amid the development of various models of psychosocial treatments and through direct-to-consumer advertising campaigns launched by the pharmaceutical industry. While pharmacorherapy and psychosocial interventions appear to be efficacious as monotherapy, the best strategy over the long-term may he a combination approach. Rating instruments specific to SAD are available and are useful in allowing clinicians and patients to more objectively determine the outcome of treatment.