[Desafinado]

Cliff Notes: A mind that's too energized and lacking confidence

Social anxiety is something that I've experienced, to some degree, for a large part of my life, even before my Bipolar diagnosis. At heart, I'm an introvert, and being around crowds of people has always garnered bad feelings inside myself.

Once I was diagnosed with Bipolar this got worse, I started to lose control of my thought processes and had a hard time making it day to day.

Eventually I had a huge eye-opener: I realized that I was self-medicating with alcohol, and that perhaps I needed a dosage increase, and so I saw my doctor and increased my levels of medication a touch. Within a week the social anxiety that had plagued me for the greater part of three years was gone, and since that time I rarely experience it.

What happened? First of all, the medication that I take is an anti-psychotic, a medication that is meant to slow down the thought processes of the mind. By increasing my dosage I actually "slowed down" my brain. This gave me a greater ability to think clearly and slowly evaluate social situations before reacting, something that I couldn't do well as I wanted before the dosage increase.

That was it: making the conscious recognition that I needed a dosage change again and again until I found a balance that actually. . . worked. This came from an awareness of my own habits and my own needs, something that should be done pro-actively by people with mental illness.

All too often people with anxiety make the mistake of giving in and believing that their negative thoughts are something true about themselves. They understate the significance of the chemical imbalance that exists in their mind, and the ability of different medications to bring about a stable state.

But, in addition, anxiety is also closely tied to self-confidence (the behavioral aspect of this disorder). People who have little self-confidence, are more likely to feel socially anxious when in a crowd. This is something that seems, to me, to be only dealt with through experience, through talking problems out with others, and by actively seeking out answers as much as we can.

Thought I'd flesh that post out, I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts!

[Odee]

I don't have social anxiety, but I definitely appreciate your post!! We need to 'slow down' and think more clearly about situations presented to us. That is definitely an important concept to understand.

[Benetduncan]

Great post!

[jadedbutterfly]

Thank you for sharing this information.
I am also on an anti-psychotic.... I am going to ask my pdoc about this....

[5678scream]

A great post, I loved hearing your thoughts on this topic. It sounds like it was such a simple solution for you. I’ve battled social anxiety pretty much all my life, and right now the medication is cornering in on alleviating the symptoms of panic attacks and depression, so that I can function and do the things that I need to do such as run errands and work out in my woodworking shop, and take care of my beloved dog. My dosages are in the high-average range and I am doing so much better on them now that I am on them, but I couldn’t say that my social anxiety has completely disappeared, that would take a miracle. So I am happy for you, but also envious. Because I know my anxiety is rooted in deep beliefs that I was raised on and have become my core beliefs. I strongly believe that medication and talk therapy are what have been helping me grow in the direction that I want to be. I’d be interested to hear what kind of thoughts you had that made you feel out of control. And also what medication you are on that has helped you in such a positive way. FYI, I am on Celexa, Abilify, Respidal, Wellbutrin, Buspar, and Xanax as needed. I feel that I am on a well-rounded cocktail of sorts. As well as an actively engaging patient in my emotional health.

[Desafinado]

Originally Posted by 5678scream

A great post, I loved hearing your thoughts on this topic. It sounds like it was such a simple solution for you. I’ve battled social anxiety pretty much all my life, and right now the medication is cornering in on alleviating the symptoms of panic attacks and depression, so that I can function and do the things that I need to do such as run errands and work out in my woodworking shop, and take care of my beloved dog. My dosages are in the high-average range and I am doing so much better on them now that I am on them, but I couldn’t say that my social anxiety has completely disappeared, that would take a miracle. So I am happy for you, but also envious. Because I know my anxiety is rooted in deep beliefs that I was raised on and have become my core beliefs. I strongly believe that medication and talk therapy are what have been helping me grow in the direction that I want to be. I’d be interested to hear what kind of thoughts you had that made you feel out of control. And also what medication you are on that has helped you in such a positive way. FYI, I am on Celexa, Abilify, Respidal, Wellbutrin, Buspar, and Xanax as needed. I feel that I am on a well-rounded cocktail of sorts. As well as an actively engaging patient in my emotional health.

I've been thinking about this post for a while and how to respond to it, and I had guessed that your anxiety might have more to do with deep-seated beliefs. . more of an environmental cause. When I came back to your post it seems that that's true.

I'm glad you brought that up because it's actually helped me understand anxiety (and my own anxiety) better. My own anxiety was caused more from genetics than any beliefs about myself. For me, it pretty much came down to the fact that I experienced significant paranoia due to my mind moving too fast. Once I slowed my mind down, the paranoia ceased, and the social anxiety got a lot better. I move more slowly now, but it comes with a nice payoff.

It seems like, for you, proper therapy might be more helpful. I dated a woman who was similar a few years ago. It was hard for her to adapt to her surroundings because of deep-rooted self perception. Luckily Canada offers some great programs for people with disabilities, and she was able to undergo dialectical behavioral therapy over the course of about a year. She's not perfect, but she is much improved.