Competition...

[nickabcuk]

...

 

[Boundless]

For 500 grand im sure a lot of people would try there best to become more social,but then again there are others who even for money cant do it.

 

[nickabcuk]

...

 

[Bexi]

we might all turn into greedy rat racer types, knocking ppl down and treading over everyone to get money, and i know alot of people on here arent like that at all! 8O

 

[4myself]

Good question Nick!. At first I was going to say 'yep' but then I though about it and I realised that I am aiming to get everything that I want out of life (including a lot of money hehe) when I beat this sp. But who knows, maybe it would make me try and work a bit faster!. :wink:

 

[Boundless]

Yea you are right there is no 'cant' but to the person having the problems it feels liek they cant do it (i should know)

Is the prize of being confident and feeling good about ones self not a desirable enough prize on its own?

Sure id love to be more confident and feel good about my self but it isnt going to happen anytime soon,i've spent to many years depressed forced into crap job i hated because other wise i would of been homeless,my step mother was like that you see,hated me and made an example of me to her real children made me feel worthless,stupid and unwanted and they are hurtfull feelings,she couldnt wait to get rid of me and when it finally happened im sure she was as happy as ever.I didnt go quietly oh no went out in a blazing arguement that to this day i dont regret she deserved it.

Opps theres me going off topic :x

 

[ignisfatuus]

The question assumes that SA is able to be overcome, an opinion I know the OP holds from reading some of his previous posts, but one I do not hold myself. It can be mitigated but not eradicated. For the less severe, sub-threshold SA, yes; for generalised SA, I would have to say no. No prize, however big, will effect a cure. It would only serve to exacerbate the self-loathing of the participants after they failed to meet the objective.

I've skirted around the question a little here as well. There would most definitely be attempts to make alterations with that kind of money dangled before a person. However, as I stated above, these attempts would be more damaging than helpful. A similar high pressure situation is this: What if you were thrown into a war-zone where you needed to continually interact with those around you in order acquire food, shelter, etc, competing those in the same situation for limited resources? I would probably die inside of a week. Literally. The point is, it is not purely a matter of mind; there is a genetic component too. It's like asking someone with MS to overcome their symptoms for a million dollars. It's not going to happen. As for all those who are going to say, "Well, SA is not anywhere near that severe, shame on you for comparing the two", I say bullshit. You do not have SA if you think it a trifling matter that can be waved away with a little CBT and some Paxil.

 

[black_mamba]

And how would we proove that we had truely overcome our social phobia? It is possible for some of us to act out more social characters, believe it or not. :wink:

 

[Yossarian]

What if there was a competition with a prize of £500,000 for the person who could turn their social anxiety into social-confidence in the shortest amount of time?

Would you do anything different than you are already doing regarding becoming socially confident?

If it were a guaranteed prize (after all I would probably lose anyway...etc) then yes it would. Reading your posts Nick I think the key to your progress was that you dedicated yourself to overcoming SP.

I'm not sure why I can't do that. Maybe I am just a coward lol. I think for me there aren't any rewards that are big enough to get over SP. This is probably by biggest problem. Maybe it is just depression but I doubt it. While I think there are many goog things in life, none mean enough to do what is necessary. Even without SP I can't help but feel life is some what of a chore.

I have often felt if I had more definate goals, ambition etc then I would be more motivated to get better. £500,000 is a pretty definate goal lol.

I guess £500,000 is worth more to me than a life without fear. Strange as I have never really cared about money. If things had gone well I could of got a well paid job etc. Oh well, c'est la vie.

 

[blubs]

yes...
I think if I could see such a definative goal that would change my life for ever, it would change my approach and spur me on.
But I think that is because financial problems are the worse thing that my social anxiety has caused.
but I don't think I could really overcome it quickly...it would be more along the lines of seeing if I could put on an act long enough to grab the money and scarper back to my own little world..
a bit like swimming that pool full of crocodiles in Bexi's joke
(if any one else read that :lol: )

 

[Chilling__Echo]

i love you nick!! i'm makin a nick fanclub

good food for thought, i don't know the answer...

 

[black_mamba]

Did I win yet?

 

[racheH]

The question assumes that SA is able to be overcome, an opinion I know the OP holds from reading some of his previous posts, but one I do not hold myself. It can be mitigated but not eradicated. For the less severe, sub-threshold SA, yes; for generalised SA, I would have to say no. No prize, however big, will effect a cure. It would only serve to exacerbate the self-loathing of the participants after they failed to meet the objective.

My generalised SP is gone. The fact that I was in compulsory education actually helped once I realised what the problem was, because I was forced into sometimes intense social situations five times a week, and as the webpage I posted points out (another shameless plug :wink the furthur you space out exposures to the stimuli, the harder it is to reassociate it with rational feelings.

As for only less severe cases being cured, well you'd have to make your own mind up as to whether mine was severe. I only know it was enough that I'd mutter something stupid in advance so people would stop talking to me and dragging out the humiliation process, because they'd go and laugh about me together instead, which was just slightly less painful. It was enough to scare me stiff when I walked past people - muscles tensed, shoulders hunched and facial expression fixed. I wouldn't laugh in front of people unless that was what everyone else was doing. My personality changed according to what the people I was with would find acceptable. If I thought there was no hope of being accepted I'd not show any personality to at least minimalise the disapproval I'd get. I'd fake illness to skip school if I'd forgotten homework, not because I'd get detention, but because if a teacher gave me a disapproving look or tone of voice I'd humiliate myself by crying over it there and then. If a stranger in the street whom I'd never see again and who could have no conceivable influence on my life 'looked at me funny' I'd ruminate the fact at night for weeks.

And I know that these things, among others, no longer happen.