Social Anxiety disorder

RubyXI

signs and symptoms of social anxiety disorder include:

• Intense fear of being in situations in which you don't know people
• Fear of situations in which you may be judged
• Worrying about embarrassing or humiliating yourself
• Fear that others will notice that you look anxious
• Anxiety that disrupts your daily routine, work, school or other activities
• Avoiding doing things or speaking to people out of fear of embarrassment
• Avoiding situations where you might be the center of attention

Trying to work out whether i have it.

tbh

How many of those symptoms do you display? Can you give us any examples?
It's obviously something that worries you, how come it's on your mind?

You are best off going to a doctor, however, there may well be people on this forum who are affected by this - the more information you give, the more likely you are to "strike a chord" with them, and get feedback.

biko

Ask a professional about cognitive behaviour therapy.

RubyXI

like avoiding all social occaisions, loosing friends coz of it, not being able to eat or drink in front of people. Not liking talking on the phone, fear of showing my opinions. that for a start anyway.

wjv

It sounds like you have social anxiety. I have it myself but only figured this out about five months ago by accident. There is help out there (see Mater hospital) and I am in the middle of a group course at present. Firstly I recommend you read Overcoming Social Anxiety by Gillian Butler http://www.amazon.co.uk/Overcoming-Social-Anxiety-Behavioural-Techniques/dp/1854877038. This book really spoke to me and I realised then for the first time I definitely had social anxiety. We basically have to do all the things we are avoiding for years. My awareness and the support I receive from the course leader and othere sufferers has helped me enormously even in a few weeks!

I hope this will help. This is my first time posting here and I'm not quite sure of what I am doing

RubyXI

i would be scared to go to any group about it, i wouldnt even be able to go to my gp about it. i avoid all appointments as much as possible.

biko

You taken a step by posting here, well done, but you need to actually speak to someone to solve this. Go to a female doctor you've not seen before and ask about therapy. A/S/L?

RubyXI

i dont think i can go to a doctor. even making the phone call to make the appointment is very difficult for me.

tbh

how about family/friends? is there someone you can talk to that might be able to help you?

RubyXI

no there's no-one i can talk to really

biko

Your boyfriend?

RubyXI

i have talked to my boyfriend a bit and i am a little better than i was because of it, but theres a long way to go yet.

k-a-t-e

I'd recommend Overcoming Anxiety by Helen Kennerly. It's a self help book that uses the Cognitive Behavioral Techniques that many Clinical psychologists are trained in and use in their 1-2-1 therapy sessions. It can be bought of amazon too.

I know how it feels and it can be beaten. It doesn't happen overnight and it is a slow process but it can be done:D
good luck and best wishes

tbh

phi3 wrote: »

i have talked to my boyfriend a bit and i am a little better than i was because of it, but theres a long way to go yet.

even the longest journey can be completed in baby steps

Maybe your boyfriend could try to arrange a home visit for you?

RubyXI

i dont really want to mess thinks up with my bf, with this depression or whatever it is either.

JuliusCaesar

then read the books! Leave them lying around so he can look at them. They'll take you through a treament step-by-step. There's also a Dummies Guide to CBT (the big yellow books) so you can see if you can treat yourself......at least to the extent of being able to make an appointment with someone. You might also be able to get telephone or email counselling - try the Irish Council for psychotherapy CBT Section, the Psychlogical Society of Ireland, the Brit Assoc for CBT- Rep of Ire ......

dreadlock

Hi,

Anyone who suffers from Social Anxiety / Social Phobia should visit the following site. The CD's are a must.

http://www.socialanxietyinstitute.org/audioseries.html

Have a look at the site in general - very helpful.

There is a local support group being setup in Dublin for people who need help.

email: overcomesa@gmail.com

All the best,

Cormac

ugliest

Is this group set up.........?

dreadlock

Hi,

Yes this group is setup.

Ideally, people will have done some work themselves with the
CD series offered by www.socialanxietyinstitute.org.

Drop me an email to overcomesa@gmail.com if you're interested
in coming along. The groups are on Tuesday nights from 6pm to 8pm.

Cheers,

Cormac

tbh

hi Cormac - just so as we are all on the same page here - I'm assuming you have an involvement with these organisations? Could you spell out exactly what that is please? I've left the links up because they seem to be resources for people, but can you please let me know (on this thread) the cost of the CD's?

thanks.

dreadlock

Hi,

Thanks for the mail.

What I am running is a purely voluntary support group. I have made good
progress overcoming Social Anxiety and am now in a position to help others by giving a bit of my knowledge back.

I make no commission whatsoever from these series. These CD's / tapes are superb at rationilizing what social anxiety is and the best step to overcome it.

In fact, when ordering, if you mention my name "Cormac from Dublin, Ireland" you will get a 20% discount.

More details can be found at:-

http://www.socialanxietyinstitute.org/audioseries.html

If people are interested in joining the support group here in Dublin, Ireland, then send me an email at overcomesa@gmail.com

All the best,

Cormac



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LegacyUser

Hi,I was just looking at SAI website.The CBT course is now only available
in CDs.The cost is $399 and postage is around $135,altogether $535.
Just wondering if anyone ordered it and was then hit with a customs
bill on delivery.thanks

garymac27

I have tried the charles linden cd's and dvd's and it was a good help, didn't cure the sa though. I think that requires alot of hard work and dedication.

I have also tried a group therapy in dublin which I highly recommend, visit the website!! It costs next to nothing and you get to meet some great people.

http://www.socialanxietyireland.com/

How are you getting on with the sa?:)

Boilerbad

It was caused by a combination of caffeine and ventolin for me gone now there is literature on the net that says this it says if taking ventolin avoid caffeine as it causes CNS disturbances which basically is anxeity

VENTOLIN INTERACTIONS

Check with your physician before combining Ventolin with the following:

Antihistamines
MAO inhibitors
Tricyclic antidepressants
Beta-blockers
Blood pressure lowering drugs
Digoxin
Other bronchodilators
Theophylline
Water pills
Stimulants such as caffeine, St. John' wort, ginseng, and ephedra.

RubyXI

Boilerbad wrote: »

It was caused by a combination of caffeine and ventolin for me gone now there is literature on the net that says this it says if taking ventolin avoid caffeine as it causes CNS disturbances which basically is anxeity

VENTOLIN INTERACTIONS

Check with your physician before combining Ventolin with the following:

Antihistamines
MAO inhibitors
Tricyclic antidepressants
Beta-blockers
Blood pressure lowering drugs
Digoxin
Other bronchodilators
Theophylline
Water pills
Stimulants such as caffeine, St. John' wort, ginseng, and ephedra.

what is ventolin??

Boilerbad

phi3 wrote: »

what is ventolin??

Its salbutamol ventolin is brand name

LegacyUser

garymac27 wrote: »

I have tried the charles linden cd's and dvd's and it was a good help, didn't cure the sa though. I think that requires alot of hard work and dedication.

I have also tried a group therapy in dublin which I highly recommend, visit the website!! It costs next to nothing and you get to meet some great people.

http://www.socialanxietyireland.com/

How are you getting on with the sa?:)

A while back I got onto that group course and bailed after first night.I regrete
it now.I had to travel a fair bit to get there,and didn't feel up to it at the time.
I will probably get SAI book/cds to start working on that now.Sa has gotten in
the way of almost everything(friends,work,etc).I have to seriously work on it...

flyswatter

biko wrote: »

Ask a professional about cognitive behaviour therapy.

+1

Terry

phi3 wrote: »

i dont really want to mess thinks up with my bf, with this depression or whatever it is either.

I don't know anything about your relationship, but if your boyfriend loves you then he will help you through this. Please don't read this as me having a go at your boyfriend.

You really should seek professional help though.
Left untreated for too long, social anxiety can turn you into a recluse.

I suffered from mild social anxiety myself and used to find it hard to interact with others.
I would either sit in a corner and not speak, or I would just get really drunk in order to cope wth it.
Neither of those are good ways of coping with it and basically just made it worse.

After some treatment (in my case it involved councillors and xanax, but they were part of a cure for larger issues), I was able to socialise normally again.

It took time and there is no instant cure, but the cure is there. You just need to see the right people.

RubyXI

<3BeingIN6th wrote: »

I don't know anything about your relationship, but if your boyfriend loves you then he will help you through this. Please don't read this as me having a go at your boyfriend.

You really should seek professional help though.
Left untreated for too long, social anxiety can turn you into a recluse.

I suffered from mild social anxiety myself and used to find it hard to interact with others.
I would either sit in a corner and not speak, or I would just get really drunk in order to cope wth it.
Neither of those are good ways of coping with it and basically just made it worse.

After some treatment (in my case it involved councillors and xanax, but they were part of a cure for larger issues), I was able to socialise normally again.

It took time and there is no instant cure, but the cure is there. You just need to see the right people.

Hey, I haven't talked about this on here for a long time but here goes.
It wasn't so bad for a while. I mean the social anxiety was still there but not quite as bad. But the last week or so it all came back big time. It really upset me that it was bad again because i had sort of convinced myself it was going and soon i might be ok. But now i feel like crying all the time again. I feel like locking myself away and seeing no-one. I don't even know why.
Things are probly better than ever with my boyfriend, like he's really making an effort and all and i just block him out even though it's the last thing i want to do. But even though when i feel like this and need love and attention, it's when i block it out most. And i cant understand why i do it. That's what's so hard. I can't understand why i stop myself doing the things i want to do.
I know the advice is go to the doctor and get help. I know it's the right thing to do. But i don't think i can do it. I have to go to the doctor to get a perscription next week and i'm terrified. It's only in and out but appointments terrify me. Making phone calls terrify me. And it's not just the doctor, it's any appointment like getting my hair done or anything. And that one on one experience scares me too. So i really don't know what to do.
Last time i was at the doctor and she asked if there was anything else she could do for me, i knew i should have said it, but i couldn't. I just wanted to get out of there.
Please don't give out to me saying if i won't ask for help no-one can help me so it's my own fault because i know all that already.

Terry

First off, nobody is going to give out to you.
It's a serious problem and I really feel for you. I know how debilitating it can be.

Your boyfriend sounds like a really good person and seems quite willing to help.

What you have to address here is your fears.
What are you afraid of?
What do you think will happen if you go for an appointment?

Start with baby steps.
Go and get your prescription, but get someone to drive you there. That way you can go and sit in the car if you start to get nervous. However should you begin to feel nervous, ask yourself what you are afraid of. Then resist the urge to walk away.
I know it's not easy, but it's something you have to do. You'll feel so much better when you walk out of there with your prescription.

Later tonight go for a walk around your estate. Just a short walk. Then do the same the next night, but go a little further and keep extending the walk each night.

Now with something like this there is always an underlying problem. This is why you need to talk to your doctor. S/he will refer you to someone who can really help you.
Trust me when I say that you will feel so much better when you speak to your doctor.

[motivation]Get up, get out and get better[/motivation]