The thing about psychology and their diagnosis is, that psychology is not an exact science. Whatever they tell you, should be taken only as a guideline. Most of the time, all they do is drop labels on you, which are of little help to you anyway.
Why the word "disorder" is disempowering in this context. Mental health disorders carry a bad reputation and social stigmata. The same people who may have been considered a bit shy, antisocial, unsure, sad, will be diagnosed with a disorder and suddenly they are not okay or "normal" anymore. The more we begin to believe we have a disorder and identify with our label, the more disempowering it becomes and we can become resigned to the fact that we have it and the more it alienates us.
Whereas, if you did not use the word disorder, and instead looked at it as a part of your growth e.g. I am only a little shy today, as I continue to grow socially, I will be less shy tomorrow. In this case, being a little shy is not a disorder, but a challenge and we are still in control. The moment we are told there is something wrong with us, we begin to lose that control.
If you've ever gone to a mental health support group and met the people that come there. How many would rattle off different labels and letters to identify themselves. It is no surprise, that many of them have been in therapy for years on end. That is because they believe there really is soemthing wrong with them and are ceeding their own control to circumstances.
Now, I understand that SA can become so intense that it becomes a disorderly e.g, panic attacks, difficulty maintaining a normal life, getting a job. You can either look at this as a disorder or as a very difficult challenge for you to face. When you step outside of your comfort zone and begin to feel uncomfortable, you are not experiencing something that other people don't when they step out of their comfort zone, only that they have expanded their comfort zone through experience and learning. This is the key here. You need to look at this situation as a challenge, that you must beat through experience and learning.
I once met this counsellor, who was trained in NLP. I was expecting the regular sessions of talking about my problems to her, she completely surprised me, when she took me by the hand and signed me up for my first job within minutes of talking. I was left stunned. She shared with me a story of one of her clients, who was absolutely terrified of going on the bus and hadn't done it for years. When he came to her, probably expecting a regular counselling session, she left him stunned just how within 15-30 min she had lead him out of the office, to the bus station and onto the bus!
That was how easy it was, and since then I had no problem applying for jobs and he had no problem going on buses. We had expanded our comfort zone through experience and learning.
