What is this social anxiety test?

It is Andy's own 10-question self-check, written from the DSM-5 description of social anxiety disorder. Each answer scores 0 to 3, for a total from 0 to 30. A higher score means the signs come up more often.

Is this social anxiety test accurate?

It is not a validated test, and the bands are our own grouping. It shows how often these fears come up for you and whether it may be worth speaking with a professional. It can't tell you what you have.

Yes, and you don't need an account. Your answers are saved so the result can show how your score compares with others.

What should I do with my score?

Use it as a starting point. A single score is a snapshot, so tracking it over time tells you far more than one result. If your result shows many or strong, frequent signs, consider talking with a doctor or therapist.

Free Social Anxiety Test (Self-Check)

Social anxiety is a strong fear of being judged or embarrassed in front of other people, out of proportion to the real risk, that leads you to avoid those situations or get through them with a lot of distress. This 10-question self-check asks how often you have noticed that over the last month. It is not a validated test and can't diagnose anything. If the fear keeps getting in the way of work, study or friendships, talk to a doctor.

This free social anxiety test is Andy's own self-check, written from the DSM-5 description of social anxiety disorder. It takes about a minute, asks nothing personal, and gives you a result with a plain-language explanation of what it means. You never have to sign up or hand over an email. Below the check you will find how it works, how to read your result, and what sensible next steps look like.

1)How this self-check was written

We wrote the 10 statements in our own words, based on how the American Psychiatric Association's DSM-5 describes social anxiety disorder. They cover the fear of being judged, the worry that others will see you are anxious, avoiding social situations or sitting through them with distress, and the fear getting in the way of daily life. Each statement asks how often it has been true for you over the last month.

It is not a validated clinical scale. No study has tested it against a diagnosis, and the score bands are our own grouping. It can help you put words to what you notice. Social anxiety tends to rise and fall with circumstances, so taking the check again in a few weeks tells you more than one result on its own.

Social anxiety is more than shyness. It shows up in your thoughts, your body and your behaviour, and the pieces feed each other: the fear drives physical symptoms, and the physical symptoms fuel avoidance. This self-check asks about all of them.

Fear: dreading judgement or criticism, fearing embarrassment, worrying about people in authority, and expecting to look stupid or say the wrong thing.
Physical: blushing, sweating, a racing heart, trembling or shaking, and a shaky voice when others are watching.
Avoidance: skipping parties and social events, staying quiet in groups, dodging speeches or being the centre of attention, and avoiding people you do not know.

Almost everyone feels some of this now and then, and a little social nervousness is normal and often useful. The self-check looks at how often these experiences come up and how much they push you to avoid things, because that is what separates ordinary shyness from something worth a closer look.

3)How the scoring works

Each of the 10 questions scores from 0 (not at all) to 3 (very often), so your total runs from 0 to 30. A higher total means these signs come up more often for you. The bands below are our own grouping to help you read your result. They are not clinical cut-offs.

Social anxiety self-check bands (our own grouping, not clinical cut-offs)
Score	Band	What it usually suggests
0 to 7	Few signs of social anxiety	Little sign of social anxiety right now
8 to 15	Some signs of social anxiety	Some nerves around people, worth keeping an eye on
16 to 22	Many signs of social anxiety	Worth discussing with a doctor or therapist
23 to 30	Strong, frequent signs of social anxiety	A professional assessment is a good next step

No score on this check means you have social anxiety disorder. Only a doctor or therapist can tell you that. A higher score means the fear and the avoidance come up more often, and that is a good reason to talk to someone.

4)What your score means, and what it doesn't

A single score is a snapshot of the last month. It is not a label or a diagnosis. Social anxiety naturally rises and falls with sleep, stress, workload, and life events, so the direction it moves over time matters far more than any one number. Two people can both score 18 and be in completely different places: one heading into a daunting stretch of presentations, the other coming out the far side of one.

The self-check also has limits. It was written for social anxiety, the fear of being judged, watched, or embarrassed in front of others. It was not designed to pick up panic disorder or obsessive-compulsive patterns. It also helps to separate shyness from social anxiety disorder: shyness is a personality trait many people live with comfortably, while social anxiety disorder is when that fear becomes intense and persistent enough to shrink your life. And because it relies on your own honest reporting of the last month, a rough few weeks can push the score up and a calm stretch can bring it down. Retaking it and watching the trend tells you more than a single result.

5)What to do next

Few or some signs: keep doing the small things that help. Staying gently connected, leaning into situations rather than avoiding them, and steady sleep and movement all tend to keep social anxiety from building.
Many signs: keep the basics going, and it may be worth talking with a doctor or therapist, especially if it holds or climbs over the coming weeks.
Strong, frequent signs: it is worth speaking to a doctor or therapist. CBT and gradual, structured exposure to feared situations are well established and effective for social anxiety. Only a professional assessment can tell you what is going on.
In every case, retake the self-check every few weeks. The trend line tells you far more than any single reading.

If you are struggling to cope, or you are having thoughts of harming yourself or feel in immediate danger, please contact local emergency services or a crisis line you trust right now. You do not have to manage this alone, and reaching out is a sign of strength, not weakness.

6)Why tracking over time helps

A test taken once tells you where you are today. A test taken regularly tells you where you are heading, and direction is what you can actually act on. When you log the social situations you face alongside how anxious they left you, patterns start to surface that are invisible from the inside, that speaking up in meetings gets easier the more weeks you do it, say, or that a run of cancelled plans quietly ratchets the dread back up. Those patterns are where change becomes possible, because they turn a vague sense of being socially anxious into specific, addressable moments. Andy is built around exactly this loop: a quick daily check-in, and a clear view of how your mood and anxiety move over the weeks.

7)About this self-check

This is Andy's own self-check. We wrote the statements in our own words from the description of social anxiety disorder in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5, 2013). It is not a validated scale and not a diagnosis, and the score bands are our own grouping. Treatment: NICE CG159, Social anxiety disorder: recognition, assessment and treatment. Last reviewed September 2026.