Anxiety disorder is a recent entrant in medical analogy not because it is new, but because earlier it was confused with agoraphobia or fear of market place (derived from the Greek language). Those suffering from agoraphobia would do anything to avoid being in a crowd.
On the other hand, when you suffer from SAD you lead a normal life on the surface, though you would experience extreme anxiety symptoms every time you would interact with people. Somehow, though you normally tend to brave it out, people would make you nervous and restless.
This condition came into public recognition only in the 1970s when the teen American Idol, Donny Osmond talked about his insecurity when in front of a crowd. He had mentioned then that he felt everyone was judging him, therefore it made him anxious and uncomfortable when he was surrounded by a large crowd. Some of the symptoms you would expect with SAD are:
1. Loss of control - everything is about control with all the anxiety disorders. Here too, you would feel that you are likely to loose control in public, which for you would be catastrophic.
2. Fear of interacting with people - you feel safe as long as people stay where they are and leave you alone. Whenever somebody tried to befriend you, talk with you, and interact with you at any level you would feel the anxiety rise.
3. Fear of being judged - you would never enter a crowded party place because you would not be able to bear so many eyes on you when you make your entry. You would be horrified to think that all these people would be scanning and judging you from head to toe.
4. Fear of being ridiculed - you would rather not speak, sing, dance, play or whatever it is there that you have to do - because you fear you would make a mistake and people would laugh at you. The thought of being ridiculed would make you cringe; therefore, you would avoid everything that would give the slightest chance for you to fail in front of any crowd.
5. Fear of being in crowded places - every time you find yourself surrounded by a sea of people, you find yourself vulnerable. What if somebody from this crowd watches you intently and find out your flaws (whatever you think these are)? What if somebody out there in the crowd is laughing at you? What if somebody out there is judging you? You have no cover, no way to protect yourself, no defense.
Fortunately, among all the anxiety disorders this is the least harmful and the easiest to treat. Often a few sessions of therapy would be able to help you lead a normal life. The key to finding the right treatment is to get to the root of the cause of SAD in your case. This is most often than not investigated and treated successfully with the help of hypnosis, counseling and mediation.