You've probably heard the word "social anxiety" eight million times by now. Don't like class presentations? Don't like asking the random grocery store employee where they keep the spicy Cheetos? Do you sometimes get nervous when you're about to walk up to a group of popular girls who will hate you if you don't wear the right color on Wednesdays?

Most of us have experienced those moments where we flake out in social situations. If you're shy, social situations just may be plain painful.

Social anxiety is basically a more intense form of shyness. It's an extreme form of anxiety that is also called a phobia.

Psychologists describe it as a condition where a person is uncomfortable or fearful in a social situation of being judged by others.

Honestly, at first that sounded like a broad and vague definition to me. Almost every shy person on the planet could fall under that definition, but not all shy people have social anxiety. Shyness could mean anything from getting a little nervous giving a speech in front of 3,000 people, to being afraid to ask for a napkin in the cafeteria. That, I guess is the major difference between shyness and social anxiety. Shyness is not always intense, and a lot of the time, it is something that can be overcome with some help. Social anxiety is usually more intense and harder to overcome, but not impossible.

Either way, like I said, I don't have much experience with social anxiety, so I talked to my close friend, let's call him Ray, that does have it.

When Ray walked through the hallways at school, he was sure that everyone who looks at him is making fun of him or laughing at him somehow. Even though he knew it's not true, he couldn't stop thinking about it for the rest of the day.

When Ray had to call someone or talk on the phone, he was afraid that the other person will be mad at him. He was afraid that he will waste their time. He analyzed every conversation or phone conversation he's made over the day, wondering if anything he said could have upset someone else or caused them to hate him.

Teachers are the worst. Ray freezes up and found that he couldn't say anything if a teacher approaches him and asks him a question. When he wants to talk to a teacher after school, he has to walk around the school 3 times in order to work up the courage to enter their room.

Class presentations (or any kind of presentations) are the worst. Almost every kid gets nervous or messes up sometimes during presentations. My voice cracks at inappropriate times, and it's extremely annoying. For kids like Ray, though, it can be more painful and humiliating. Ray told me that during a presentation once he was visibly shaking from head to toe, and stammering uncontrollably. I've only seen him present once, but I imagine it is incredibly frustrating. What's worse is that I've seen other kids making fun of him behind his back for it. Ironically, the social anxiety that makes him fear other people judging him is what causes other people to judge him.

Is it right that other people judge him and make fun of him? No. It is not something that he chooses to control or wanted to have happen to him. It's something that he works hard to control. A lot of people don't seek help for this because they fear judgement and they feel as if there isn't anything they can do to get control of this disorder. 35% of people who have it say that they went through it for 10 years before trying to get help for it.

Some people with social anxiety find that it's caused by something that happened earlier in their life. Bullying, especially can play into it. It seems to be a mix of environmental and genetic factors.

There are many ways of treating social anxiety. In some cases, people may take medication. In some cases, however, a lifestyle change, counseling, a lifestyle change, or taking small steps to practice talking to and interacting with people can help a lot.

If anyone knows or believes they may be suffering from something like this, there are 15 million people out there who have diagnosed social anxiety disorder. You are definitely not alone. There is no shame in acknowledging it.