I think I have social anxiety. I feel incredibly awkward in social situations to the point where I can be silent to avoid humiliating myself.  This used to be a huge problem when I was young, but since I started university and was forced to meet new people it hasn't been so bad...

Anxiety is a normal emotion that everyone goes through.  It's a normal reaction to stress.  Different kinds of anxiety disorders: 
Generalized Anxiety Disorder;
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD);
Panic Disorder;
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD);
Social Phobia (or Social Anxiety Disorder.
All of them have in common the one thing that makes them a disorder, the reaction a person has to the stress causing the anxiety.  Or the preoccupation with trying to avoid or get rid of the anxiety.  The more importance we placed on avoiding anxiety, the more we develop anxiety about our anxiety, which makes it worse.  Vicious little cycle.  Of course having this knowledge really doesn't help much.  Simply acknowledging a problem doesn't solve it, but it can help a bit I guess if we're aware of what is happening.  One of my stress triggers is being judged or criticized.  Making a mistake or social faux pas that will have ppl angry at me, embarrass me or lead to judgement.  Rude or aggressive people, that pick on others, bullies.  People that make assumptions and dismiss me without listening to the truth when I know they misunderstand.  I've had so many ppl come back to me later and say sorry because they just didn't bother to take the time to listen in the first place.  If I had a dollar for every 'I'm sorry" I've gotten, I'd have no money issues, which is another trigger. lmao, but then I suspect that is an all too common one.  Of course there are the physical triggers, not getting enough sleep, which again is a cycle since it's hard to sleep when you are anxious.  Not eating right makes me prone to being triggered more easily.  I've discovered my anxiety manifests itself physically in my shoulders.  They are always tense and I have to remind my self to purposely relax them.  Stretching them down.  Years ago while hospitalized, I complained to my doctor about the pain in my shoulders and neck, the muscles were so tense.  He told me it was the anxiety.  I didn't believe him, I thought I needed a muscle relaxer.  He gave me some lorazepam instead.  A small dose of an anti-anxiety medication (a benzodiazepine) and in 30 minutes my neck and shoulders were fine.  One dose, that day and it took about a weeks worth of stress and anxiety before my shoulders got back up to the point they were that day.  That's when I learnt that I carry my anxiety in my body physically.  Many ppl do and don't even know it.  I don't like to take the ativan (lorazepam) because it is addictive so I try to save it for crisis moments and stretch out the muscles but when they are bad I have no choice.  Sometimes I get annoyed by so called 'healthy' ppl that have no idea what it takes for ppl with these illness' just to make it through the day.  If they were in our shoes for one day and had to deal with what we deal with, they wouldn't know what hit them, they'd fall flat.  They have no idea that we should be commended for what we manage to do just to get through a day.  Yet I pray for day when medical science can make us all forget what it's like and be clueless just like them, lol.