Depression, Disability Research, Mental Health Research, Social Issues / 17.02.2026
Is Social Anxiety a Disability?
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Photo by cottonbro studio[/caption]
Many people wonder whether a diagnosed social anxiety disorder makes them disabled. The simple answer is most likely yes, it is when a person's daily life and work are affected by social anxiety that it can be considered a disability. Many people are actually unable to function normally in social interactions, a direct result of this condition.
If someone is unable to work, form personal relationships, or even perform daily tasks due to social anxiety, it is a sign that the disorder has become disabling.
Federal laws recognize mental health problems as disabilities. Social anxiety disorder is listed on the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Social Security Administration's list of disabilities. These laws, on the same level, recognize that mental disorders can be as limiting as physical injuries.
Social Anxiety as a Disability
Social anxiety disorder is a common condition that affects millions of people. Most people with severe social anxiety remain stuck in patterns of fear and avoidance. They are eager to work and become functioning fellows of society, but mental barriers get in their way. Even simple tasks like answering phone messages, attending meetings, or dealing with customers become almost impossible obstacles for people with this disorder.
However, social anxiety disorder affects different people differently. While some people sweat, tremble, or feel nauseous when faced with social situations, others are so afraid that they literally run away from people they have to meet. It is most disabling when it interferes with:
Photo by cottonbro studio[/caption]
Many people wonder whether a diagnosed social anxiety disorder makes them disabled. The simple answer is most likely yes, it is when a person's daily life and work are affected by social anxiety that it can be considered a disability. Many people are actually unable to function normally in social interactions, a direct result of this condition.
If someone is unable to work, form personal relationships, or even perform daily tasks due to social anxiety, it is a sign that the disorder has become disabling.
Federal laws recognize mental health problems as disabilities. Social anxiety disorder is listed on the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Social Security Administration's list of disabilities. These laws, on the same level, recognize that mental disorders can be as limiting as physical injuries.
Social Anxiety as a Disability
Social anxiety disorder is a common condition that affects millions of people. Most people with severe social anxiety remain stuck in patterns of fear and avoidance. They are eager to work and become functioning fellows of society, but mental barriers get in their way. Even simple tasks like answering phone messages, attending meetings, or dealing with customers become almost impossible obstacles for people with this disorder.
However, social anxiety disorder affects different people differently. While some people sweat, tremble, or feel nauseous when faced with social situations, others are so afraid that they literally run away from people they have to meet. It is most disabling when it interferes with:
- Job performance and career advancement, as well as personal skills development
- Basic daily activities like shopping and banking
- Maintaining personal relationships
- Finding necessary medical care or other services
- Using public transportation
- Making phone calls or appointments
Dr. Ogedegbe[/caption]
Gbenga Ogedegbe, MD, MPH
Dr. Adolph & Margaret Berger Professor of Population Health
Director, Division of Health & Behavior
Director Center for Healthful Behavior Change
Department of Population Health
NYU Langone Health
NYU School of Medicine
Member of the 
Alexia Aguilar[/caption]
Alexia Aguilar
Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine
Scranton, PA
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Traditional antidepressants like Zoloft and Lexapro have three major drawbacks.
Dr. Ganson[/caption]
Kyle T. Ganson, PhD, MSW
Assistant Professor, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work
University of Toronto
Toronto, Canada
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Dr. Nagata[/caption]
Jason Nagata, MD, MSc
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, California, USA
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: A quarter of young adults in the US have reported being unemployed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Young adults may be especially affected by employment loss as they often work in industries most adversely affected by social distancing.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?
Response: Among a sample of nearly 5,000 young adults age 18 to 26 in the US, we found that since March 2020, young adults who lost their job or were part of a household that experienced employment loss were more likely than those with secure employment to experience four common symptoms of anxiety and depression. This was also true of young adults who expected an employment loss in the next four weeks. The study also found that symptoms of anxiety and depression were common among the sample of young adults. In the seven days prior to the survey, 75% reported being nervous, anxious or on edge, 68% reported not being able to stop or control worrying, 67% reported having little interest or pleasure in doing things, and 64% reported feeling down, depressed, or hopeless.
Dr. Etkin[/caption]
Amit Etkin, MD, PhD
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford Universitu
Stanford, CA
MedicalResearch.com: What is the mission of Cohen Veterans Bioscience - CVB?
Response: Cohen Veterans Bioscience (CVB) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) research biotech dedicated to fast-tracking the development of diagnostic tests and personalized therapeutics for the millions of Veterans and civilians who suffer the devastating effects of trauma-related and other brain disorders.
MedicalResearch.com: How can patients with PTSD or MDD benefit from this information?
Response: With the discovery of this new brain imaging biomarker, patients who suffer from PTSD or MDD may be guided towards the most effective treatment without waiting months and months to find a treatment that may work for them.
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: This study, which was supported with a grant from Cohen Veterans Bioscience, grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH and other supporters, derives from our work over the past few years which has pointed to the critical importance of understanding how patients with a variety of psychiatric disorders differ biologically. The shortcomings of our current diagnostic system have become very clear over the past 1-2 decades, but the availability of tools for transcending these limitations on the back of objective biological tests has not kept pace with the need for those tools.
In prior work, we have used a variety of methods, including different types of brain imaging, to identify brain signals that underpin key biological differences within and across traditional psychiatric diagnoses. We have also developed specialized AI tools for decoding complex patterns of brain activity in order to understand and quantify biological heterogeneity in individual patients. These developments have then, in turn, converged with the completion of a number of large brain imaging-coupled clinical trials, which have provided a scale of these types of data not previously available in the field.
Dr. Kendall[/caption]
Dr Kimberley Kendall MBBCh
Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Fellow
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Dr. Vallerand[/caption]
Isabelle Vallerand, PhD
Epidemiologist, MD Student
Department of Community Health Sciences
Cumming School of Medicine
University of Calgary
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: It is well known that patients with alopecia areata, a form of autoimmune hair loss, are at a higher risk of suffering from depression than the general population. But in practice, we often hear patients tell us that they believe their hair loss developed as a result of stress or problems with mental health – certainly the phrase “so stressed your hair is falling out” is something most people have heard of. Despite this, there has actually been very little research investigating the role that mental health may have on development of alopecia areata.
Interestingly, depression has recently been associated with increased systemic inflammatory markers, so there is biologic plausibility that depression could increase the risk of alopecia areata. Our group was interested in addressing this question, and used a large population-level health records database with up to 26 years of follow-up to study it. We ultimately found that not only does depression increase one’s risk of alopecia areata, but that it increases their risk by nearly 90% compared to people who have never had depression. We also found that using antidepressants can significantly decrease the risk of developing alopecia areata in patients with depression. So there appears to be an important link between mental health and development of hair loss from alopecia areata.
