Anyone tried this?

[Liberty]

Some of you may know I went through CBT therapy for approx. 12 sessions and it went well. It helped me improve. I had a lot of relapses though but was able to come back stronger and continue progression. I still considered myself far from cured even though I'd finished therapy though.

My newest homework assignment, since I'm making them up myself now, is to try as hard as I possibly can to engage in my surroundings. From reading a book about Social Phobia I learned that "disengagement" is one of the most common ways your mind will attempt to hide from the source of the fear. I had no idea just how disengaged I really was all the time until recently.

I'm supposed to confront anxiety-inducing situations as part of my CBT so I figured engaging as much as I possibly could would be the next step in overcoming this SA thing. So far it's been a mixed bag but even still it's shown me how big a factor disengagement was in my awkward interactions with other people.

So, you guys should try it and tell me how it works for you and what you think. Disengaging from your surroundings and from other people in particular makes interacting naturally extremely difficult if not impossible.

 

[chrisjurban]

Yes I've noticed disengagement was always helpful for me in anxiety-provoking situations. When I drive, for example, I get anxiety worrying about whether or not I am pissing off the drivers around me and about being a perfect driver. I usually just zone out while I am driving to avoid anxiety. I do this quite frequently in other such situations. In my experience if I correct it while I notice it is happening this is an effective treatment, not forcing constant engagement.

 

[stephen]

Could you explain what disengagement means in this context?

 

[lyricalliaisons]

Disengaging is the only thing that makes it even possible for me to even leave the house, so there's no way I could ever do without it. It's a huge coping mechanism for me & has been my entire life. I just enver realized it had a name before now.

As for CBT, in general, I have tried it, but found it to be of no help at all. Mainly because my thoughts are barely a problem a problem. I can leave the house with very good thoughts in my head, be very optimistic, & still end up having a sudden panic or anxiety attack if someone starts to talk to me or something else happens.

 

[Liberty]

Could you explain what disengagement means in this context?

Yes, basically it means "going into your own world". Distraction and disengagement are two ways your mind will try to deal with the fear. I'm starting to realize now that I've been very heavily disengaged since I got SA, about 2 years ago.

I'm disengaged from other people and from the my surroundings in general all the time, naturally. Just from having SA my mind makes that my automatic state of mind. I have to force myself to fight it and engage and it ramps up the anxiety. But part of CBT is confronting the fear-causing stimuli and causing yourself to be anxious. Eventually the anxiety goes down if you stay positive and stop avoiding.

 

[chained]

so that's what it's called.. disengagement.
Your in the real world, but in your own version of it.. not in the coco way, just the way that most helps for u to hide with your fear?
I think I have this, but i dont even need to know, cuz i am fighting my obsessions(getting out of the safe zone), and with that sa will decrease..
so w/e it's called, im fightng it not letting myself enduldge to my obsessions, right?
sorry Liberty, at least im not venting

 

[Liberty]

so that's what it's called.. disengagement.
Your in the real world, but in your own version of it.. not in the coco way, just the way that most helps for u to hide with your fear?
I think I have this, but i dont even need to know, cuz i am fighting my obsessions(getting out of the safe zone), and with that sa will decrease..
so w/e it's called, im fightng it not letting myself enduldge to my obsessions, right?
sorry Liberty, at least im not venting

Yeah, when it's relating to SA. I learned about it in a book about Social Phobia. I use forced engagement as a way to increase anxiety as a homework assignment. The more you do the homework the more confident you get and the anxiety goes down in that area. It's really helped so far.