Social Anxiety OCD has grown in popularity online but is not normally considered a subtype of OCD. The reason is because it has so many similarities to Social Anxiety. With that being said, there are times that someone with OCD will also have Social Anxiety and their OCD will manifest in their social experience and relationships. This means that these individuals can often feel an even greater sense of overwhelm when they are in social gatherings, communicating, or even walking through school, the mall, or out in public. Like social anxiety, these individuals fear that people are judging, criticizing, or making fun of them. They also end up fearing the upcoming social event. It is not uncommon for them to observe someone’s facial expressions in conversation to verify if they are thinking horrible things about them. Other physical compulsions can include avoiding people or social experiences altogether for fear of others criticizing them. It is also not uncommon to Mind-Read others by trying to understand what they are thinking about you, or utilize Fortune-Telling to try and guess exactly how a future social interaction will go even though it hasn’t happened yet. As a result of these catastrophic ways of thinking, most people with social anxiety and social anxiety OCD are left in a constant state of anticipatory anxiety (anxiety created by thinking about future events). This leaves them performing compulsive behaviors to minimize their anxiety. Unfortunately, these compulsive behaviors only fuel the OCD cycle.
