The term “social phobia (社交恐惧症)” seems to have taken on popularity these days. Young people in particular are describing themselves as having “social phobia”. They prefer not to go out much, saying that it’s hard for them to make new friends or socialize. But is this a “real” disorder (病症)?

In fact, this is just a reaction to certain social situations. US researcher Ty Tashiro wrote the book Awkward: The Science of Why We’re Socially Awkward and Why That’s Awesome. He explains that some people don’t “read” social situations correctly and therefore end up feeling uncomfortable. For example, they might be afraid of breaking some kind of unspoken rule. Therefore, they start to act awkwardly (笨拙地) because they don’t want this to happen. This might make them unwilling to socialize. They prefer to stay in instead of going out to meet new people. But this doesn’t mean they have social phobia.

“Real” social phobia—also known as social anxiety—is much more serious. People with social anxiety want to go out and interact with people but are so scared of doing it that they don’t believe in other people besides families. Their brains simply won’t allow them to interact with others in a normal way. People with social phobia disorder can even experience panic attacks (惊恐发作).

Fortunately, social anxiety can be treated. Some people use self-help books to help them gain more control over their minds. Therapy (心理治疗) can also help.

Studying too much?

Most people work or study from Monday to Friday. The weekend is usually a time of rest. But today's Chinese teenagers can hardly rest during the weekends.

According to a survey, 24% of the Grade 8 students in Beijing have classes at the weekend. Over 40% of the middle school students have less than eight hours’ sleep each night because of study.

And this doesn't happen only in Beijing. Ji Chunying is a Grade 9 student in Guangzhou. The 14-year-old girl has to get up at 6:45am on Saturday. Then she has classes all the day. On Sunday, she goes to extra（额外）classes for math and physics. But Ji doesn't complain. She says her classmates all work very hard.

Finding time to have fun

Zhao Ming, 13, is from Zhanjiang, Guangdong. Zhao's weekend is less busy. But he still spends Saturday in school. On Sunday, after finishing homework, he plays basketball. "I feel happy because I still have time to do the things I like," he said. Some students are much luckier. Ding Yi, a Grade 8 student from Laiwu, Shandong, is one of them. During the weekend, Ding usually gets up at 8:00am. Then she spends some time doing homework. After that she is free to go shopping or watch TV. "My teacher said I don't need to push myself too much. Learning well at school is enough," Ding said. "I feel pretty lucky."