I dont have social phobia????

[jt]

.. so I was at the doctor's.. I told him I had anxiety, he then proceeds to tell me that I have agoraphobia because:

a) I can sleep fine
b) i have a good relationship with my parents
c) i eat fine

... I told him I had social anxiety and he told me no. He put me on atenolol so it would ease my blood pressure and so it would stabilize me.

What do you all think?

I thought I had sp because i blushed when I talked, felt all eyes on me, and the usual "dont want to be embarrassed in public" kinda feeling.

 

[PunkyMonkey]

I don't really know anything, but... I've never heard anything saying that people with social anxiety aren't supposed to have good relationships with their parents, eat ok, or sleep fine. I do/have all of these things and I've been diagnosed with SA and I'm taking medication. I wonder what you could do about it.... maybe you could show him what you've read about all of the different symptoms, and why you think you have SA?

 

[jt]

Well atenolol certainly does calm me down. But I will talk to him in a month and pressure him for something that relieves anxiety (maybe xanax) .. or I'd really like you guys to tell me what I could do.

Thanks!

 

[Alexp]

Hi,

Was it a family practitioner or a psychiatrist?

It does seem a little odd..it seems a little overzelous to be prescibing atenolol - a blood pressure medication for agoraphobia. I know it can be used for extreme racing heart probablems and panic attacks, but I dont know the whole case...it just seems a little odd based what you've written.

You know your mind more than any doctor..its very difficult for doctors to tell you what you are not.

How long have you been seeing this doctor?

 

[jt]

He's a family care guy .. well I do have high blood pressure, but beta-blockers are also there to treat patients with somesort of anxiety I guess (I also looked that it could be prescribed for social phobia).. He just told me I dont have anxiety after asking me 6 questions

 

[Alexp]

Hi,

First off, those family care guys are not really qualified to be prescribing for anxiety or agoraphobia. High blood pressure...yes..but certainly not the best for anxiety.

My personal advice would be to get an appointment with a psych..and see what they say.

If you go to a family practictioner and tell them about anxiety or depression, most of them will just prescribe you medication based on a ridiculus little questionnaire.

I dont know the full story and the severity of the anxiety, but medication should be used as a last resort in my opinion. Be very wary of anxiety medications too...they can be difficult to live with (numbing effect) and difficult to get off and readjust afterwards.

 

[jt]

i gues atenolol will work for now since it is also used for sp

 

[pjam76]

one problem

Yeah he's only a family care practicioner or what not and maybe he doesn't have the "training" and experience to really know what's going on..

But on that same note, we've become a society who read a few reports, browse on the net and think we are experts.. We've become a society who believes everything the drug industry says.

Yeah maybe he's not the right guy to diagnose you, but on that same note, what makes you or anybody on this forum an expert on how to diagnose somebody..

That's the problem with the internet. Everybody is an expert, but the fact is, most people have no clue.... And that creates too many people who believe what others say on a forum or on somebody elses blog rather than a person who went to medical school or got their PHD.

yeah doctors are wrong, but don't assume what you read or hear on the net or in books makes you an expert on that subject either.

 

[Alexp]

Re: one problem

edited

 

[Alexp]

edited: forget it

 

[Chrysta]

Personally I think you should go see a different doctor. I think need a second opinion. I eat fine, sleep fine, and have a good relationship with my parents... I have Social Phobia. Those three things do not detremine SP or not.

 

[Jack-B]

This may appear contradicatory but please contemplate patiently:

If you strongly believe you have SP when you dont, you will develop anxiety due to the way your mind is looking at things and sure enough SP will develop in your mind.

If you really have a SP, your mind will be completely familiar with anxiety in such a sense that it will be obvious to you and so you will say 'i know i have SP'.

From what you write, it doesnt indicate a social phobia but you definitely deal with anxiety. It indicates more initial stages of the development of the mind of phobia in which familiarity with anxiety is key. Where you associate the feeling of fear with certain situations or people.

If you continue to associate fear with being around others then phobia will develop. Dont let it.

Anxiety is a mistaken appearance to our mind which is not true. It makes us believe we are frightened of others. A deceptive state of mind which tricks us into developing phobia of others. Disbelieve the mind of anxiety when it arises in your mind, it says, "you are afraid of others" when really its nothing more than internal mental change. No one is scary, at all. It does however feel scary within our mind, this is why we then develop phobia.

Anyone who has a social phobia associates the feeling of anxiety with being around others, its completely mind made, people from their own side cannot give us a phobia.

What do you believe?

Jack

 

[Ems]

That is what SP is, a state of mind, built from social experiences. I think we all know that the fear we have is in our minds but we still feel it. It is the most frustrating feeling when you know you shouldn't feel this way but you do and you don't know how to change it. People with SP aren't stupid or mentally retarded. In my opinion they are intellectual people who have reacted badly to situations in their past that pain has been inbedded into their psyche.
Has anyone got any ideas how to get rid of these irrational fears? Counselling, psychotherapy and hypnotherapy has not worked for me. I am getting better but very slowly, and it is because I face these fears and have to take it on the chin. Maybe it is facing the fear that makes the fear less scary and makes you stronger? What do you think?
xxx

 

[Alexp]

Ems,

I agree completely with everything you said.

In my opinion they are intellectual people who have reacted badly to situations in their past that pain has been inbedded into their psyche.

True indeed. My work has shown that anxiety is a series of self reinforced 'pain'. It is reversible though, it just takes some time. Stop the constant emotional pain such as beating yourself up after every little social event for not doing exactly what you wanted. If the pain isnt reinforced..given time, your body wont feel a need to use anxiety to protect itself. Eventually you will feel less and less anxiety if the pain isnt constantly reinforced.

The core reason why we have felt so much pain in the past and continue to feel pain is because our expectation level is too high. Specifically social expectation in this case. Allow for mistakes and imperfection...convince yourself that its okay to say or do something stupid...what will happen is that you wont beat yourself up after the event...and that means you wont reinforce the pain that leads directly to the anxiety...so you will feel less and less anxiety as time goes on.