Social phobia more common among elderly Swedes
Fear of social situations is considerably more common among the elderly than previously thought. A thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy shows that four percent of over 65s suffer from social phobia.Although social phobia has previously been thought to be rare among the elderly, a new thesis shows that as many as 60,000 Swedes over the age of 65 may experience fear before going out and eating at restaurants, meeting other people or speaking to a group. “This is a forgotten disorder among the elderly,” says Björn Karlsson, a doctoral student at the University of Gothenburg’s Sahlgrenska