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Insofar as its behavioural \u2018symptoms\u2019 imply a failure to achieve certain cultural values, such as assertiveness, self\u2010expression and loquacious vocality, shyness is increasingly defined as a problem for which people can, and should, be treated. This paper first critically discusses the idea that we are witnessing a new \u2018cultural epidemic\u2019 of shyness, as evidenced by increasing rates of diagnosis for Social Phobia, Social Anxiety Disorder and Avoidant Personality Disorder. It then examines three main dimensions of the medicalisation of shyness: biomedical and genetic approaches, the therapeutic interventions of cognitive\u2010behaviour therapy and \u2018shyness clinics\u2019, and the disciplinary regimes imposed by self\u2010help books and websites. Within a cultural climate of pervasive anxiety and privatised risk, the medicalisation of shyness suggests a powerful new way of defining and managing certain kinds of deviant identities, but we can also find some evidence of resistance to this approach.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-9566.2006.00485.x","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2006,2,15]],"date-time":"2006-02-15T17:21:48Z","timestamp":1140024108000},"page":"133-153","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":118,"title":["The medicalisation of shyness: from social misfits to social fitness"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"28","author":[{"given":"Susie","family":"Scott","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2006,2,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_7_2_1","unstructured":"Ahuja A.(2003)\u2018It's time to stop taking the tablets \u2013 you\u2019re not ill you\u2019re just alive\u2019 The Times T2supplement 19\/02\/03 4\u20135."},{"key":"e_1_2_7_3_1","volume-title":"Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV.","author":"American Psychological Association (APA)","year":"1994"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_4_1","unstructured":"Anxiety Network International(2004)http:\/\/www.anxietynetwork.com(accessed 03.08.2004)."},{"key":"e_1_2_7_5_1","unstructured":"Arends T.(1998)Frequently asked questions (FAQ). alt.support.shyness newsgroup.http:\/\/members.aol.com\/cybernettr\/shyness.html(accessed 12.03.01)."},{"key":"e_1_2_7_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/1467-9566.ep10933329"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/107780049700300304"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_8_1","unstructured":"BBC(2001) Shyness pill undergoing tests. 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