Earthcircle
Well-known member
Patience is for the young. I am 50 years old.
social anxiety is highly treatable
- Thread starter Earthcircle
- Start date
Patience is for the young. I am 50 years old.
AlienGeranium
Well-known member
Well, remember I'm not a mental health professional so take everything I say with a grain of salt :
: I would think though, if what I said was accurate, immediately telling someone "Well, there probably won't be much we can do" is almost guaranteeing that it won't help. I goes with the mindset thing everyone keeps talking about. It's not the kind of thing where you can go in thinking "Oh, I don't this is going to work, but I'll give it a try anyway" and then one day be all better. A positive mindset is absolutely crucial.
arjuna
Well-known member
I'm younger than you but not that young myself (32 years old). I have systematically put myself through exposure therapy for the past 7 months with good results. I used to get anxiety attacks when talking to shopkeepers just around 5 months ago and now that just doesn't happen. But I know I still have a long way to go. I know I find it hard to maintain conversations, specially to strangers. If I keep up with my rhythm, I can predict that in about a year I will be normal.
I would love it for all to finish immediately but I don't consider that realistic.
BlueDays
1
I had a great Psychologist that knew enough about anxiety to actually explain to me why my previous attempts at it with another Psychologist did not work.
It felt great to finally find out why!
erfect:Being in a constant state of anxiety - as I am in all types of social interaction - results in becoming "stuck" in the Amygdala part of your brain.
For CBT to actually work you need to get yourself out of the Amygdala part, and into the Prefrontal Cortex part of the brain.
Only then will CBT be able to work. The hard part is trying various methods to find which one successfully gets you out of your Amygdala and into your Prefrontal Cortex. Their is more complexity to it, but that is the gist of it.
CBT still won't work for me because I have not been able to find a method of getting my thoughts out of the Amygdala (during a social situation) yet for any longer than a few minutes.
PugofCrydee
You want to know how I got these scars?
Remember we are not attempting to treat a cold or a wound but the human psyche. Nothing is a given, there is no 'one size fits all' method of treatment.
A large part of recovery/improvement comes from within.
theslowesthand
Banned
Social Anxiety is one thing .. AvPD (Avoidance) is another.
Is Avoidance worse than Social Anxiety?. I think maybe it is, as it's like i've given up long ago with people (& Social Anxiety), and nowadays i'm quite comfortable with simply Avoiding almost all people & public situations. I don't even feel a need to address my SA/SP anymore, as Avoidance "takes care" of it all.
Is Avoidance worse than Social Anxiety?. I think maybe it is, as it's like i've given up long ago with people (& Social Anxiety), and nowadays i'm quite comfortable with simply Avoiding almost all people & public situations. I don't even feel a need to address my SA/SP anymore, as Avoidance "takes care" of it all.
yes exactly many of us dont have years to spend in a therapy process only to see minimal results..
i have seen some progress in areas, i can socialize much more openly now but still dont enjoy it and it never comes natural..it always feel like an act if that makes sense..
Earthcircle
Well-known member
I had a great Psychologist that knew enough about anxiety to actually explain to me why my previous attempts at it with another Psychologist did not work.
It felt great to finally find out why!
Being in a constant state of anxiety - as I am in all types of social interaction - results in becoming "stuck" in the Amygdala part of your brain.
For CBT to actually work you need to get yourself out of the Amygdala part, and into the Prefrontal Cortex part of the brain.
Only then will CBT be able to work. The hard part is trying various methods to find which one successfully gets you out of your Amygdala and into your Prefrontal Cortex. Their is more complexity to it, but that is the gist of it.
CBT still won't work for me because I have not been able to find a method of getting my thoughts out of the Amygdala (during a social situation) yet for any longer than a few minutes.
That is interesting. Many things make me nervous: I am afraid of getting stuck in the elevator, afraid of getting hit by a car, afraid of being late to just about anything, and if I read about an asteroid hitting the Earth I will actually have nightmares.
How does one decrease activity in the amygdala?
Last edited:
Earthcircle
Well-known member
I should emphasize that I have *already* spent well over a decade in therapy, have used many self-help books, meditated, etc. Hearing that "it's a process" and "it may take years" is -- I have to admit -- rather maddening at this point in my life.
arjuna
Well-known member
That means that 60% do respond to CBT, so it would be a good bet to try to do this properly, as it seems to me he hasn't followed an exhaustive CBT treatment. I find it hard to see how you are going to get better if you don't expose yourself to it.
Someone also mentioned about being in the amigdala part of the brain. Well, my experience with CBT is that with the facing of situations I have exited that area in most situations. The problem with that is that you can get right back into it if you are not careful and 100% aware of what is around you.
Rumplestiltskin
Well-known member
Social anxiety caused by irrational thoughts is treatable; social anxiety caused by rational thoughts is not.
On a side note, an efficacy of 60% is ridiculously low. Are we really supposed to consider psychology to be a reliable science with figures like this?
On a side note, an efficacy of 60% is ridiculously low. Are we really supposed to consider psychology to be a reliable science with figures like this?
Earthcircle
Well-known member
Let's talk about the Amygdala thing. That sounded like the beginnings of some real insight.
Rumplestiltskin
Well-known member
You might be objectively ugly and worry about other people criticizing you, for example. If you are, it is a fact that other people will be criticizing your looks, so it is normal for you to feel anxiety when exposing yourself. In cases like this, no psychologist is going to be able to change your thoughts, since they arise from reality and are indeed rational.
I agree. Specially in a world so obsessed with looks. I think the narcissism we see everyday and how technology and social networks make people seek so much attention and approval or just use it to bully others are some of the main reasons for so many people
with SA. Just Goggle it, and see how many articles you will find.
with SA. Just Goggle it, and see how many articles you will find.
AlienGeranium
Well-known member
Ok, I definitely don't think this is the case. Going on the assumption that attractiveness/beauty is objective (which I personally do not think is the case) I do not think people who society deems ugly are doomed to feel anxiety based on what others think of them. Anxiety is not controlled by external things, it's internal reaction to those things. I mean, rationally speaking, what does one have to be anxious about for being "ugly"? That people won't like them, or that they will think less of them, or tease them, or bully them? Someone who is able to recognize that their appearance says nothing about them as a person, and that anyone who tries to judge them for it is an idiot, will probably not have much anxiety surrounding their appearance. I feel like that would be a rational response to being criticized on your appearance.
I mean, if you put great weight in the importance of being attractive and are "objectively ugly," then maybe there's nothing to be done. You're digging yourself a huge hole by viewing the world like that though. (Even in this case though, you can come to accept it and "roll with the punches." I mean there are just numerous ways to think about things to avoid anxiety, it's just getting into those thinking patterns)
Last edited:
shy_guy_666
New member
yes CBT is very clever tool but when your fear and panic paralyse you (Amygdala) in the middle of a social interaction... your thinking brain goes blank... and when you cant think, you cant use CBT which is a "reasoning" therapy...
did you find any techniques that may work to get out of the amygdala grip ?
Sacrament
Well-known member
Objectively ugly to whom? Isn't that subjective? An "ugly" guy with confidence goes way farther in life than a handsome man with no confidence.