This short quiz measures the severity of social anxiety using the SMSP, a clinically validated screening scale. Your answers stay private. At the end you'll see a severity score (0-5) and what it means.
About this quiz
Social Anxiety Severity Quiz
This 2-minute test uses a clinically validated severity scale to score how much social anxiety affects your daily life. You'll see a 0-5 rating and what each band means. Bia uses this score to personalize your recovery program.
About the scoreWhat your social anxiety score means
SMSP severity bands (0 to 5)
- 0 – 1Minimal: your phobia rarely affects daily decisions or quality of life.
- 2Mild: noticeable in specific situations but not yet shaping major decisions.
- 3Moderate: actively limiting choices around work, travel, eating, social life, or sleep. Most Bia users start here.
- 4Significant: meaningfully disabling. Structured daily exposure work is the evidence-based path forward.
- 5Severe: dominating daily decisions. Bia's structured program is effective at this severity; therapist-supported use is recommended.
Common questions about social anxiety
Will I have to do public speaking?
Only if and when you choose. Bia's exposures start small: speaking up once in a meeting, calling instead of texting, attending one event. Public speaking is for those who want to go there.
Is shyness the same as social anxiety?
No. Shyness is a temperament. Social anxiety is a specific fear of negative evaluation that drives avoidance and safety behaviors. If shyness is dictating your decisions, it might be social anxiety.
What if I'm anxious because I actually am socially awkward?
Social skills are learned through social contact. Avoidance keeps both the anxiety and the awkwardness in place. Bia includes both exposure work and practical scripts for common situations.
Social anxiety is the fear of being judged, criticized, or embarrassed in social situations. It shows up as avoidance (declining invitations, hiding in meetings), safety behaviors (over-preparing, rehearsing every sentence, avoiding eye contact), and intense post-event rumination: "what did they think of me?". The clinical fix is graduated social exposure combined with dropping safety behaviors: speaking up without rehearsing, making eye contact during conversations, attending events without an exit plan. Bia structures these as a ladder of social risks, paced by you, with behavioral experiments to test what actually happens when you stop hiding.
Common signs of social anxiety
- Fear of being judged, criticized, or embarrassed
- Blushing, sweating, or trembling in social situations
- Avoidance of speaking up, parties, dating, or new groups
- Over-preparation and rehearsing conversations
- Post-event rumination, replaying conversations for hours
- Fear of looking anxious (the meta-anxiety)
Our clinical approach: graduated social exposure with behavioral experiments