Social Anxiety Help

minnie11

My son suffers from severe social anxiety and associated depression. We live in the North Kerry/West Limerick area.

Has anyone here with a similar condition got therapy and counselling<mod snip>

Thanks.

eviltwin

What age is he?

minnie11

He is 20. He is on antidepressant medication but with no improvement.

Taltos

Mod note
OP please read our charter before posting again. I've remove two elements of your post that are considered breaches here, the second being more serious as we have to protect all our posters from those less scrupulous. Hope you understand but please be careful in what you ask for.

Cheers.

minnie11

Sorry, Please delete thread.

zoobizoo

You might get him a book called the feeling good handbook by Dr. Robert Byrnes I think.

What has been you GP s response?

Under_Graduate

Try different meds.

AD's are extremely subjective.
Do some research on a dedicated pharmacology forum.
Get a shrink, not a GP.

Ace Attorney

a good friend of mine suffered from this, the only way to fix social anxiety is to become exposed to the public again, little by little and get into those situations that stress him out until he gets used to being in those social situations again, this should be done with a psychotherapist doing CBT. they would have him doing little goals to achieve every week. Seek out a good psycohtherapist because getting a good one is half the battle, your son believing in him will be a lot of help. Good luck.

Fakediamond

Some local psychiatric hospitals have nurses trained in CBT for social anxiety, you G.P. should be making the referral??

Their first recommendatio is to read the book "Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway" by Susan Jeffers. You should be able to get it in the library, also often available in charity shops.

There is help out there and it's probably easily accessible, through your local psychiatric service.

Good luck.

J_E

Get him to make a daily goal to do something in public, from something small like going to the shop and building up to joining a social group for an afternoon. The one thing that will make social anxiety worse is giving into it and hiding away for longer and longer. For some of us, social interaction is just something that needs to be practiced on more than others. It's a skill like everything else and can be intimidating. I don't think going on medication is a primary solution - it should be a facilitator for taking action on it.

Starkystark

Couldn't recommend CBT enough. Found it brilliant for my Social anxiety.

stop animal cruelty

Op I have suffered with this, but can thankfully say I dont as much as I use too.

Why is he on the meds? Was this properly talked through with the gp? Have ye done anything else before getting the meds?

Your son needs to get out and and face his fears. He needs to get a job where he interacts with people daily. A hotel or bar is perfect. I know this cause thats exactly what I done and I am a different person today than I was on my first day on the job.

He needs to know that yes hes going to feel painfully awkard, uncomfortable and scared......he needs to face them. There not going to kill him. When these fears are faced there is a incredible weight off your shoulders and feel good factor emprowers you.

To put it simply, he needs to grow a pair of balls and be fearless. The amount of social suitations I faced feeling riggled with anxiety, in fact just petriffed...I went though them and just got on with things. Its hard at the start, what isnt hard in life, but trust me if he can tell himself , 'fcuk it, these people dont how anxious I am, or whats going on, Im doing my best here to overcome this fear...and doing my best' I promise you the difference within a year will be worth it all.

Get him out of the house. Get him out of his own head. Read books, join clubs, get out in the air. He needs to be kind to himself. It needs to be figured out why he has become this way also....how was his childhood? how is home life? has he good relationships? All these need to be tackled. Find the root cause, pull out that root and set a new seed.

I'll post later books I have read that found to be a great help, not at home atm but will do when I get the chance. I hope hes reading this thread, he doesnt need to be scared. He has just got to get out there and face his fears. Iv done it and so can he. 100%.

Aimeee

Have you been in touch with Jigsaw, Kerry? Have a look at their website for info & contact details. They have office in Tralee and a few more will be opening around the county.
I've been to a few talks they've done, one at my sons secondary school. Very reassuring.
Give them a call for info or where you can turn next. You can self refer and no need for doc referral. All confidential etc.
Best of luck.