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AzulOscuro
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Default Jan 11, 2021 at 01:25 PM
  #1
I was thinking about sharing with you social exposure therapy so we may write here our achievements. Giving a public speech, doing a video chat with somebody, taking a coffee by your own. Can you believe that at my 48 I’m still unable to take a coffee alone someplace even being accompanied by my two doggies. I barely can do a thing like that as a normal thing. Don’t tell me about eating something out alone there. My social anxiety would triggered me as if I had to face to a bullfighter, me being the bull, ( I rather identify with the innocent bull than the bull fighter. I’m against bull fighters or any other kind of animal abuse).

I mean what about like-minded people helping and supporting each other in their achievements or sharing here their achievements as a boost for others.

Maybe we can help each other a bit.

Feel free to share, please!
P.S.: Any reply is welcome but I would appreciate the most, the intervention by those who has social anxiety.
Thanks

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Social Anxiety and Depression. Cluster C traits.
Trying to improve my English. My apologies for errors and mistakes in advance.

Mankind is complex: Make deserts blossom and lakes die. ( GIL SCOTT-HERSON)
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Default Jan 11, 2021 at 02:37 PM
  #2
Dear AzulOscura,

What a wonderful topic. Thank you so much for starting it. Hopefully many people will see it and share their achievements regarding social anxiety.

I used to be afflicted with severe, severe social anxiety. A psychologist taught me a little trick. I thought his idea was crazy but I tried it and it helped me to much.

He told me to imagine myself as an alien from another planet sent to earth to observe and learn about human behavior. Anything I learned in a social interaction would be a great achievement, prize and treasure. If I went into a social situation and was ignored... Great, I derived information for my planet. If I was in a social situation are treated rudely...Great, more information for my planet. If I approached a stranger and tried to start a conversation and was rejected . . . Great, even more information.

No matter what happened to me in a social situation, it was a win-win situation for me because my secret goal was to acquire information for the people of my planet.

For me, anxiety is related to the possibility of threats to my self-worth, identity or survival. But when playing this game, my self-esteem is tied to my secret mission as an alien, so my self-esteem and survival is invulnerable.

By turning my social anxiety into a game like this, it took the stress and pressure off of me. This turned into a great achievement for me personally since my fear of social situations decreased and decreased.

I hope others will share their successes. Thanks again for starting this topic!

Sincerely yours, Yao Wen

Last edited by Yaowen; Jan 11, 2021 at 02:55 PM..
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AzulOscuro
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Default Jan 11, 2021 at 02:52 PM
  #3
It’s funny what you say but it has sense.
I didn’t know you cope as well with social anxiety. Oh!

My psychologist also gave me a trick to cope when I had to travel to my partner’s country. There, people are even more open and friendly than in Spain, it was Latin American and I was about to sabotage the trip because of my social anxiety. My psychs told me:,Guess that you are in one of these Venezuelan series, as an spectator. You are out of your country. They belong the place. They should have the pressure. It helped me and I only had two very hard moments when I cried as a child. But, only two bad moments in 19 days.

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Social Anxiety and Depression. Cluster C traits.
Trying to improve my English. My apologies for errors and mistakes in advance.

Mankind is complex: Make deserts blossom and lakes die. ( GIL SCOTT-HERSON)
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Default Jan 11, 2021 at 02:54 PM
  #4
@Yaowen, it’s not very hard to imagine myself as an alien from another planet since I already consider me as one. lol!

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Social Anxiety and Depression. Cluster C traits.
Trying to improve my English. My apologies for errors and mistakes in advance.

Mankind is complex: Make deserts blossom and lakes die. ( GIL SCOTT-HERSON)
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Default Jan 11, 2021 at 05:03 PM
  #5
Do you take medications? I find that exercise helps with anxiety.
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Default Jan 16, 2021 at 02:11 PM
  #6
Quote:
Originally Posted by meetlaw View Post
Do you take medications? I find that exercise helps with anxiety.
The problem with this kind of meds that are more effective with anxiety is the possible addition and the problem that your level of tolerance is each time higher.
I use them only when I have to face to very hard situations when I see I need this help.

Then there’s the problem that it’s a temporary help while if you get to control your levels of anxiety by exposing yourself to little challenges, you get kind of habituation to these exposures and it may even become automatic.

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Social Anxiety and Depression. Cluster C traits.
Trying to improve my English. My apologies for errors and mistakes in advance.

Mankind is complex: Make deserts blossom and lakes die. ( GIL SCOTT-HERSON)
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AzulOscuro
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Default Jan 18, 2021 at 01:40 PM
  #7
I shared in a coffee-shop with someone I met from the park. We have both doggies so we get to meet together a cute pack ( humans and doggies).
I admit that having so struggles to communicate with people and being always so on my own, these little moments give me a breath of fresh air.

Of course, I have been knowing her for months.

__________________
Social Anxiety and Depression. Cluster C traits.
Trying to improve my English. My apologies for errors and mistakes in advance.

Mankind is complex: Make deserts blossom and lakes die. ( GIL SCOTT-HERSON)
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