Free Social Anxiety Test (SPIN)

Take the check

The Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN) asks about the fear, avoidance and physical symptoms that come up around other people. Answer for how things have been over the last week.

What your score means

Seventeen items scored out of 68. The usual bands:

• 0–18 — below the threshold. Social nerves within the normal range. Most people feel some of this.
• 19–30 — mild. Noticeable social anxiety. Often responds well to gradually facing what you avoid.
• 31–40 — moderate. Likely shaping your choices — which events you skip, what you won't do. A good point to get support.
• 41–50 — severe. A heavy load that's probably narrowing your life. Professional support is genuinely worth arranging.
• 51–68 — very severe. Social fear is dominating. Talking to someone qualified is the quicker route, not an overreaction.

What actually helps with social anxiety

None of this replaces support, but all of it is worth doing while you decide:

• Approach, don't avoid. Every time you dodge a feared situation, the fear gets stronger. Facing it in small, repeated steps is what shrinks it — this is the heart of the treatment.
• Drop the safety behaviours. Rehearsing every sentence, gripping your glass, avoiding eye contact — these feel protective but keep the fear in place.
• Shift attention outward. Social anxiety traps you in self-monitoring. Deliberately focusing on the other person, not on how you're coming across, breaks the loop.
• Test the prediction. Ask what you fear will happen, then check what actually did. The gap is usually large and informative.
• Start where it's survivable. Build a ladder from mildly uncomfortable to terrifying, and climb it a rung at a time rather than leaping.

When self-help isn't enough

Facing fears works well while you can still get some distance from the anxiety. It works less well once avoidance has quietly reorganised your life — the opportunities skipped, the friendships not made, the roles not applied for. That's the stage where a therapist's structure matters: social anxiety responds specifically and strongly to CBT with graded exposure, which is much easier to do with someone guiding the steps than alone.

Talking to someone about it

A Lume Live session is a confidential 1:1 conversation with Sachin Bajaj, who holds an M.Sc in Clinical Psychology (Gurugram University) and a PGDGC from Jamia Millia Islamia. Sessions are ₹499 for 45 minutes, with your first at ₹249 using code FIRST50 — priced so that finding out whether it helps doesn't require asking anyone for money.

Nothing is shared with your parents, school, college or employer, and you can book using a first name only. For most people that matters more than the price.

Frequently asked questions