Clinical social anxiety is much more than shyness. Shyness and/or fear around strange adults is a healthy biological response. Even children raised in isolatio

Clinical social anxiety is much more than shyness. Shyness and/or fear around strange adults is a healthy biological response. Even children raised in isolation and who show immediate fear of other new children are still quick to make friends when introduced to pre-school (a terrifying experience altogether). Children who cannot be socialized effectively by around age four (5% of boys, a much smaller % of girls) usually end up punished explicitly by society in their later youth and early adulthood.