Social Networking Anxiety Disorder(SNAD)

Social phobia, also known as social anxiety disorder is a diagnosis within psychiatry and other mental health professions referring to excessive social anxiety (anxiety in social situations) causing abnormally considerable distress and impaired ability to function in at least some areas of daily life.

SNAD, on the other hand, is caused by stress from the pressures of social networking: the constant Friend requests, Scrabulous requests, photo tag requests, group and event invitations... Consider also the anxiety of creating things like "limited profiles," carefully managing how much of ourselves to reveal to our virtual associates -- and that accompanying, nagging, guilty question: "Will this person realize I restricted his ability to see my Super Wall?"

Not sure if you're suffering? Here are three symptoms of SNAD to look out for. If you have any of these, you should contact your mental-health-professional avatar immediately.

1. You were considering breaking up with your significant other, but decided to stick it out because of the anxiety associated with changing your Relationship Status on Facebook and de-tagging hundreds of photos.

2. You currently have 36+ Friend requests festering on Facebook or MySpace, which have built up month over month because you don't want your rejection to send these strangers on a downward, emotional spiral.

3. You belong to several groups including "I Skin Cats on Sundays" and "Cousins Make Great Husbands," because, well, they were nice enough to invite you.

Next time you log on to Facebook, MySpace or any of those thousands of Social Networking website think about this disorder and draw a line for yourself.