Understanding Social Anxiety

[fl2010]

Hello,

I am a therapy student and I am doing research about Social Anxiety Disorder. I will soon be presenting on this topic and I would like the audience to understand what it feels like to have SAD.

What could I do to help someone who does not have Social Anxiety understand what it’s like to have to have Social Phobia? Are there any exercises, activities you would recommend that would demonstrate how it feels?

Also, what have you done to help people understand what it is like to live with SAD?

Thank you very much, I greatly appreciate your help.

 

[coyote]

...What could I do to help someone who does not have Social Anxiety understand what it’s like to have to have Social Phobia? Are there any exercises, activities you would recommend that would demonstrate how it feels?....

Have them strip naked in front of room full of people who laugh and point and throw rotten vegetables at them.

 

[Felgen]

Imagine standing on the stage for a talent show (with millions of people watching) not knowing what to do and what to say, while being terrified of humiliation, rejection and not to mention having a panic attack.

 

[spider04]

What could I do to help someone who does not have Social Anxiety understand what it’s like to have to have Social Phobia? Are there any exercises, activities you would recommend that would demonstrate how it feels?

Also, what have you done to help people understand what it is like to live with SAD?

Thank you very much, I greatly appreciate your help.

It feels like a big fear when in presence of people/social situations (with family member this could be less). It feels like theres something wrong with you and people around you are aware of it, you feel that everyone is watching you, if its all strangers around you you will probably feel worse.

Lets say you're new to a school, you dont know anyone and the first day you walk and fall down, everyone laughs at you. When the school ends you still hear people talking about how funny you fell, how would you feel to walk into school the next day?

 

[Danedo]

Haaaa! I've always wanted to help out in academia!

OK, here goes:

As an adult, social anxiety is simply a huge disconnect between what I know to be true and what I feel.

Example: I know there is nothing inherently fearful about people, however I will feel almost the opposite.

It is a constant struggle between reason and emotion, and emotion usually wins.

Now how to make people 'feel' SA?

The best I can think of is forcing awkward situations upon your audience.

For example, asking the audience to turn to the person next to them and stare them in the eyes for the next 15 seconds while not saying anything.

Or asking them to turn to the person next to them and tell them their latest sex partner, etc. etc., some sort of embarrassing information. Anything that will cause them to become inhibited or embarrassed or think "I'm not saying that!" for even a second.

These short periods of social awkwardness from silence/personal information is how socially anxious people feel all the time.

 

[dean01]

Hello,

I am a therapy student and I am doing research about Social Anxiety Disorder. I will soon be presenting on this topic and I would like the audience to understand what it feels like to have SAD.

What could I do to help someone who does not have Social Anxiety understand what it’s like to have to have Social Phobia? Are there any exercises, activities you would recommend that would demonstrate how it feels?

Also, what have you done to help people understand what it is like to live with SAD?

Thank you very much, I greatly appreciate your help.

im currently trying to explain to my dad, i tell him little things to help him understand. i feel its to much for someone to take in all at once.

a little cbt exercise helped him to see how negative thoughts clould the mind: for the next 60 seconds try not to think about giraffes?

its pretty obvious what happens but replace giraffes with negative thoughts.

i hope this helps you in some way. )

 

[BlackPuma]

It's like; Having literal stage freight. You have to give a 20 minute speech to powerful and very intelligent people. The audience exists of give or take 500 - 750 people. You have studied your speech over and over, like a million times out of fear of forgetting it. You almost throw up out of nerves. Then you go up, gather all your bravery to speak.. and then suddenly you forget your entire speech whilst the audience awkwardly waits for you to speak.

The way you'd feel in the last bit, that is pretty close to what it feels like.

 

[JonnyD]

Perfect.

It gets a lot worse, but this is our general mind frame 24/7.
Its like our default position, and it quickly intensifies under attention.

I like how Enialis explains it because, It's not only in situations where you are embarassed, but its constant, if i could not deal only with situations where i should be embarassed , i would be a lot easier

As far as i can explain, social phobia is like a constant feeling of "being in the wrong place" when you're around other human beings, or even you're somewhere there could be other human beings - a common place like a store or somebodys kitchen(althought its a lot easier if no body is there)...

it may be less intense in some settings (like family or work) but that feeling is always in the back of your mind and any interaction my cause you to start feeling really bad and not necessarelly an interaction in a bad way , harmless things like somebody asking you for directions or having to talk to a cashier may make you react...

in my case , i become really shaky and i can't really focus in anything but my negative thoughts towards myself at that moment and how the other persons is seeing me - witch makes me "analyse" the other persons words and actions and associate with me in a bad way (oh! she is speaking about her cellphone, maybe i'm keeping her from making a call)

i feel that i'm lucky because it never becomes really aparent to others unless they touch me , which makes me afraid of being touched... also due to feeling bad everytime i socialize i started avoiding social interaction all togheter.

 

[lyricalliaisons]

Maybe you could have them imagine, or even take place, in their greatest fear. If they're faced with their greatest fear, they might realize what the feelings are like somewhat.

 

[fl2010]

Thank you for your replies. Your ideas will help me come up with an exercise that should help my audience gain a better understanding of what it is like to live with SAD.

If anyone else would like to share their thoughts, please feel free, I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[mrb]

its a problem i must admit , the trouble is people cant understand sa unless they have sa ...

 

[mrb]

This is something I agree with. Some people who don't have SA seem to think that they understand what it's like for us, but then I realize that they don't understand at all because they seem to think that social phobia is something that a person can just "get over".

yea years ago i was much worse than i am now , i avoided all things social , and it used to really annoy me when people used to say what the hell is the matter with you , whats wrong with you , dont be such a wuss , it nearly got me into fights sometimes , but thats only cos i couldnt handle the situation so i used to get cross with them , i read a lot of stories on here and relate to there feelings , i just hope that they as i have done find some kind of peace in there lives , its a slow and painfull struggle , and very lonley fighting all those horrible sa feelings ...... sa sucks ..........

 

[vilden]

what I find interesting is the fact that so many people are aware of this condition and have a deep understanding of it that they're able to recreate the feeling or emotion by describing a situation; yet coming up with a cure or method to stop these feelings is just beyond us all

 

[Anastasia]

Haaaa! I've always wanted to help out in academia!

OK, here goes:

As an adult, social anxiety is simply a huge disconnect between what I know to be true and what I feel.

Example: I know there is nothing inherently fearful about people, however I will feel almost the opposite.

It is a constant struggle between reason and emotion, and emotion usually wins.

I guess this is a key difference between SA and AvPD, which undoubtedly I have got. I believe that there is something within myself that brings out the nasty side of others, and that there certainly are individuals who will respond in an unkind way/take advantage of others and are therefore to be feared.

CBT...tackle that!!

 

[Truthseeker]

I have decided to completely stop caring whether other people understand or not. I know they won't, besides it's irrelevant anyway. We just have to suffer in silence, tough luck.. you can't have everything in life. If life on earth was eternal, obviously I would have cared, but thank God life is extremely short and we are all going to die; including all those so called "happy" folks.

 

[Ritta]

Here's something else that I'm not sure if it has already been mentioned. The dreadful Panic Attacks. I haven't had a bad one in a long time, and I hope I never ever do again.

This is how my panic attacks feels like. First my heart starts racing, then I start to shake. Next it feels like all my blood rushes to my head, which probably makes my face blush real bad. My head feels feverish, yet the rest of my body is cold and shaky. Then all the sounds around me turn into one indistinguishable noise (like wearing ear plugs) and all I can now hear is my heart beating faster and faster. Next I start to feel really nauseous like I need to puke. Finally I start to hyperventilate to the point that I cannot breathe anymore, everything starts to get really dark. At this point if I don't run outside or to an opened window I might end up passing out.

The worst thing about my panic attacks is that they're very random. Of course they're triggered by people, but there are times when they come and others when they don't. At least I know that if I ever start to feel the beginning symptoms, I got to run. ::

 

[32belly]

Thank you for your replies. Your ideas will help me come up with an exercise that should help my audience gain a better understanding of what it is like to live with SAD.

If anyone else would like to share their thoughts, please feel free, I would greatly appreciate it.

After the audience performs the "exercise", immediately have them think...

...Whatever it was that they did, said, or thought, was somehow wrong.

They should then question whether or not it was wrong and what they should have done different.

Now, they can worry if they looked stupid doing it, and start to feel very embarassed and insecure.

Then immediately wonder if everyone around them knows that they feel stupid, and wonder how there opinions of them have changed, and if they secretly all want this person to just disappear because they are a loser.

Then you can heap at least a dozen emascualating thoughts on top of that, and realize this all takes place instantaneously.

This is sort of what SA is like for me.

...Now imagine that the only thing that was asked of your audience was something simple such as, do you have the time?