Exposure therapy -- anyone tried it? Thoughts?
- Thread starter bleach
- Start date
livingnsilence
Well-known member
It depends on the person wether or not it'll help. I force myself to get exposure all the time and it dosen't help me get better, in fact my anxiety gets a little worse with exposure b/c it gives me more situations to worry I did something/said something ebarassing in but being out around people does help with my depression and it's possible my SA would worsen quicker without exposure than with it.
stardog
Well-known member
I think exposure would only be very effective though after doing some kind of CBT or other self-help method which examines thoughts, I can't imagine exposure alone would help apart from getting used to social situations, and maybe learning social skills, but I don't think it's enough to overcome SA if one doesn't tackle their thought patterns/underlying beliefs which are the root cause.
If I spend more time around people, my SA tends to get better, but then when I'm alone again I revert back, the change is always short-term.
If I spend more time around people, my SA tends to get better, but then when I'm alone again I revert back, the change is always short-term.
sabbath92002
Banned
Normal daily life provides me with enough exposure that I don't think made-up situations are needed. Gradual exposure is a part of CBT and ACT, but sometimes you just have to dive in at the deep end and take control of your life.
miss_amy
Well-known member
stardog said:
I agree here, well for me anyway.
I had a lot of exposure therapy which purely dealt with the symptoms of my anxiety. All it did was get me to do more but the anxiety was still there. I also found other symptoms developed like my eating problems got worse almost like my body had to deal with the anxiety somehow and if it wan't in a social way then it came out somewhere else. Other physical things like teeth clenching and tention headaches and excema.
I had talking therapies after that which examined why I am like this and although it hasn't cured me I am definitely better than I was and also my mind deals with it better.
bleach
Banned
Bumping because I need advice here...
I have no idea if i'm doing it right. I tried to make a list of fears with increasing anxiety. However, it seems very difficult to gauge what the next step should be, not to mention the difficulty in manufacturing these situations. I tackled the lowest "step" on my hierarchy and it seemed fairly easy, but after repeating the action several times I really don't feel any different, and I don't feel ready to take the next "step".. I just don't feel like this is working.
I have no idea if i'm doing it right. I tried to make a list of fears with increasing anxiety. However, it seems very difficult to gauge what the next step should be, not to mention the difficulty in manufacturing these situations. I tackled the lowest "step" on my hierarchy and it seemed fairly easy, but after repeating the action several times I really don't feel any different, and I don't feel ready to take the next "step".. I just don't feel like this is working.
monsieurb56
Member
bleach said:
I'm currently working with a psychologist doing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Exposure Therapy. I'm working on some underlying sexual anxiety right now but will eventually move into social anxiety, so I'll let you know how it works out.
I will say this; I've done exposure therapy with some anxiety I have/had (had to deal with fears of certain feelings associated with certain places) and once I began to ignore the fear, expose myself, and "blend" those unpleasant emotions into my daily routine, the anxiety lessened, the feelings bothered me less and less, and in most cases they disappeared altogether eventually.
sabbath92002
Banned
This is my exposure plan: go to work everyday, say hi to people at work, practice small talk with coworkers, continue going to college, say hi to people at college, ask & answer questions, go walking in the park for exercise, go shopping for groceries, etc. In other words: life is my exposure opportunity. I use Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) which tells me: anxiety isn't the problem, avoidance is. CBT tells you to correct your thinking, but ACT says just notice your thoughts and focus on doing.
autumn_82
Well-known member
Like someone else said here, life is exposure therapy. For me, just walking down the sidewalk can be anxiety-provoking. I get up every day and go to class, go to work, etc. having to fight my anxiety every step of the way. It really makes life unpleasant. I started doing exposure therapy with my therapist, and continue to do it on my own. It's hard and unpleasant, but anything you can do to challenge yourself is a good thing!
Addi
New member
About social exposure...
I think if you want to try the exposure to overcome the social phobia (which I still dont have much 'balls' to do) i would do it slowly. Dont start where its going to overwhelm you and keep you from never trying again! Just start like driving around in the car, to going to the convinience store and taking your time. to going to the grocery store and starting a small talk converstation with the cashier...etc.
I think if you want to try the exposure to overcome the social phobia (which I still dont have much 'balls' to do) i would do it slowly. Dont start where its going to overwhelm you and keep you from never trying again! Just start like driving around in the car, to going to the convinience store and taking your time. to going to the grocery store and starting a small talk converstation with the cashier...etc.
Coper
Active member
I motivate myself to make small talk with my acquaintances in a rather unorthodox, but, I think, effective way: I make it a rule for myself that I can't 'pleasure myself' if I haven't talked to anyone since the last time I did. It works, too! I admit I don't always have the self-discipline to follow my own rule, but usually I do, and it motivates me to try a lot harder to find opportunities to talk to people. And if I do go for a long time without talking to anyone, I get horny and start to notice girls more, which just makes me even more motivated to break out of my shell.
MotherWolff
Banned
Hey bleach do you have a therapist? If you do, maybe you could ask him/her to begin an exposure therapy program with you. I haven't experienced it myself with my own therapist but I read that the therapist could gather people who also have SA and have you introduce yourself to them and they introduce themselves to you(yeah that sounds very scary to me :?). But that is just the first step. Each situation the therapist presents to you becomes increasingly challenging, but they are done at a slow pace.
However, in order to "stay in shape" I believe the therapist will suggest that you practice social conversations in your everyday environment, like saying hi to pass byers(even though you don't know who the hell they are) and responding back to people who are speaking to you with eye contact(very hard for me to do).
So maybe it would be easier for you to do exposure therapy within the organized social situations a therapist could set up for you. And then, from what you have learned from that, you could gradually test out your social skills outside the therapist's office. Its kinda hard for me to give out advice that I feel is very unsettling for me to even follow.
Heeeey, I got 19 posts now and that's exactly how old I am. (Even though I look like a pre-teen)
However, in order to "stay in shape" I believe the therapist will suggest that you practice social conversations in your everyday environment, like saying hi to pass byers(even though you don't know who the hell they are) and responding back to people who are speaking to you with eye contact(very hard for me to do).
So maybe it would be easier for you to do exposure therapy within the organized social situations a therapist could set up for you. And then, from what you have learned from that, you could gradually test out your social skills outside the therapist's office. Its kinda hard for me to give out advice that I feel is very unsettling for me to even follow.
Heeeey, I got 19 posts now and that's exactly how old I am.
(Even though I look like a pre-teen)
coriander1992
Well-known member
You may not be feeling ready to take the next step because you are pushing yourself too much.
The steps need to be really similiar too each other, to start off with, so that you build up really gradually...for example:
1. Walk upto local corner shop and back.
2. Walk upto local corner shop, go in and buy something.
3. Go to shop and buy something, smile and say hi to cashier.
4. Go to shop and ask employee where something is in shop.
Get the idea? You could probably do most of those straigh away if you wanted to, but if you do it all slowly you're likely to be much more successful.
Good luck.
The steps need to be really similiar too each other, to start off with, so that you build up really gradually...for example:
1. Walk upto local corner shop and back.
2. Walk upto local corner shop, go in and buy something.
3. Go to shop and buy something, smile and say hi to cashier.
4. Go to shop and ask employee where something is in shop.
Get the idea? You could probably do most of those straigh away if you wanted to, but if you do it all slowly you're likely to be much more successful.
Good luck.
I did exposure therapy but in a different sort of way. I used to have anxiety attacks in certain situations.
Example i constantly felt like I wanted reassurance ALL THE TIME from my boyfriend. My therapist called it exposure therapy where i was only allowed to ask say 1 day a week? Then it got dropped to 4 reassurances in a week. I found it really uncomfortable im a lot better at it now but it is still something I need to work on.
Another one is if i dont know if my boyfriend is going to call at night before bed. The uncertainty of waiting makes me have an anxiety attack and feel like something terrible is going to happen. After doing cognitive work my therapist called it exposure therapy where I would have to purposely set up a situation where i wasnt sure if he would call me or not and sit throught it. Its horrible because it made me feel so uncomfortable. It has gotten a lot easier however after doing this a couple of times. I dont feel half the amount of anxiety i used to.
That may not be the answer you are looking for but from what i have experienced some aspects it does help, others it doesnt. Depends, the ones it doesnt seem to might just need a little more practise and work.
Example i constantly felt like I wanted reassurance ALL THE TIME from my boyfriend. My therapist called it exposure therapy where i was only allowed to ask say 1 day a week? Then it got dropped to 4 reassurances in a week. I found it really uncomfortable im a lot better at it now but it is still something I need to work on.
Another one is if i dont know if my boyfriend is going to call at night before bed. The uncertainty of waiting makes me have an anxiety attack and feel like something terrible is going to happen. After doing cognitive work my therapist called it exposure therapy where I would have to purposely set up a situation where i wasnt sure if he would call me or not and sit throught it. Its horrible because it made me feel so uncomfortable. It has gotten a lot easier however after doing this a couple of times. I dont feel half the amount of anxiety i used to.
That may not be the answer you are looking for but from what i have experienced some aspects it does help, others it doesnt. Depends, the ones it doesnt seem to might just need a little more practise and work.
I force myself to go out to places all the time and it never makes the anxiety or panic attacks any better. Its always still there so I can't imagine how this exposure therapy is going to make you any better. A few years ago I carried on doing a job for months, having multiple panic attacks daily, until I just had a complete nervous breakdown. Avoidance has nothing to do with what causes SA.
okay exposure thereapy is good, but combined with the cognitive part of exposure therapy.. u must settle with urself and expose at the same time to get results... for exaple.. going to talk to a frined on the phone.. before that u are thinking I am a failure.. during the whole convo this will be on ur mind, and rare will be able to over come that and get result from the exposure they did...so u must work on the cognitive part...
emmasma
Well-known member
I not tried exposure therapy, but have been forced by life into exposure to many things.
I spent 10 years as a waitress at Denny's. It did not cure my problems, but it did force me to aquire skills. In between I had more than 30 other jobs that I always quit within a month because I would get all paranoid about someone or other or something, but I did not want to burn my bridge at Denny's because once I got out of the house I needed to pay my bills.
My mom worked there and I had known all the older workers since I was a small child, so I had a pre-built nitch there. It was very, very bad at times, public panic attacks on a regular basis and such. I did learn how to look at someone and smile and listen attentively and act happy about it. I am slightly chipper, and efficient in my professional mode, and as long as no one tries to talk to me more than business or joke or laugh I do quite well.
When I was about 25 I married a man who speaks almost no English and later found out he had problems with immigration, and major credit problems. Since I spoke English it was me who had to speak to angry creditors who we could not pay. I also dealt with numerous not so nice immigration folks, and was a temporary single mom when he was in Guatemala for 17 months. This did not cure my fear of talking on the phone, or confronting things, but now I know how.
I think this is why there are so many younger people with SP, because once you have to start making your own way, you get a lot more exposure to things, because you have to. You learn new skills as you age.
Now I am a CNA (nurses assistant) and I am completely amazed at what bad communicators some of my coworkers are. They could solve so many problems by just communicating better with their residents. All my waitress skills are still with me. I may not have any friends, and I am physically unable to laugh and joke with my bosses but I can communicate better than average. I am Very proud of that.
I spent 10 years as a waitress at Denny's. It did not cure my problems, but it did force me to aquire skills. In between I had more than 30 other jobs that I always quit within a month because I would get all paranoid about someone or other or something, but I did not want to burn my bridge at Denny's because once I got out of the house I needed to pay my bills.
My mom worked there and I had known all the older workers since I was a small child, so I had a pre-built nitch there. It was very, very bad at times, public panic attacks on a regular basis and such. I did learn how to look at someone and smile and listen attentively and act happy about it. I am slightly chipper, and efficient in my professional mode, and as long as no one tries to talk to me more than business or joke or laugh I do quite well.
When I was about 25 I married a man who speaks almost no English and later found out he had problems with immigration, and major credit problems. Since I spoke English it was me who had to speak to angry creditors who we could not pay. I also dealt with numerous not so nice immigration folks, and was a temporary single mom when he was in Guatemala for 17 months. This did not cure my fear of talking on the phone, or confronting things, but now I know how.
I think this is why there are so many younger people with SP, because once you have to start making your own way, you get a lot more exposure to things, because you have to. You learn new skills as you age.
Now I am a CNA (nurses assistant) and I am completely amazed at what bad communicators some of my coworkers are. They could solve so many problems by just communicating better with their residents. All my waitress skills are still with me. I may not have any friends, and I am physically unable to laugh and joke with my bosses but I can communicate better than average. I am Very proud of that.