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Social phobia? What social phobia? part 1
Mar. 31st, 2008 08:24 pmWell! *claps hands* Let's have some good news from the arena of the unwell. :-)
It was pointed out to me that, when it comes to mental illness, I mostly blog about the drug end of things. That is, of course, only part of the treatment - drugs without some kind of therapy have trouble doing the job. When I first tackled my panic anxiety syndrome back in the 90s, it was with the help of a method called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. CBT helps you to identify and challenge the inaccurate, negative thoughts which are part of anxiety - "The plane's doors will pop open!", "The people at my talk must have thought I was an idiot!" - and replace them with more reasonable, factual thinking - "A plane's doors can't open in flight", "People complimented me on the talk".
CBT isn't an instant miracle cure, of course, but requires guidance and practice. I found it very helpful in combatting my panic attacks, and when I was looking for a new psychiatrist in recent years, I specifically sought one who could use CBT to help me address my anxieties. He and I have made a lot of progress, especially on my social phobia; there was a time when I was too fearful of embarrassment to do something as simple as phoning a stranger. But looking back at recent months, I can see both that I still had a lot of progress to make - and that I've actually made some of that progress.
With hindsight, it's obvious that my exaggerated emotional response to racewank '07 was an offshoot of social phobia. That response gnawed at me for months, until I had my epiphany in February this year. I think the CBT training is somewhat visible in that posting - I'm challenging incorrect or unbalanced statements with more accurate and fair ones. Lest I be accused again of "playing the martyr", the crucial thing was that I began to challenge those statements in my own mind.
Similarly, I was able to walk away from the latest anon meme, rather than hanging about anxiously trying to defend myself. After all, not worrying about what asshats say about me online was my New Year's Resolution. :-)
So: progress in fixing my social phobia in my main avenue of social interaction, the Internet. But what about IRL? In part two of this exciting account, the fun I had talking everyone's assorted limbs off at Conjunction 2008. :-)
It was pointed out to me that, when it comes to mental illness, I mostly blog about the drug end of things. That is, of course, only part of the treatment - drugs without some kind of therapy have trouble doing the job. When I first tackled my panic anxiety syndrome back in the 90s, it was with the help of a method called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. CBT helps you to identify and challenge the inaccurate, negative thoughts which are part of anxiety - "The plane's doors will pop open!", "The people at my talk must have thought I was an idiot!" - and replace them with more reasonable, factual thinking - "A plane's doors can't open in flight", "People complimented me on the talk".
CBT isn't an instant miracle cure, of course, but requires guidance and practice. I found it very helpful in combatting my panic attacks, and when I was looking for a new psychiatrist in recent years, I specifically sought one who could use CBT to help me address my anxieties. He and I have made a lot of progress, especially on my social phobia; there was a time when I was too fearful of embarrassment to do something as simple as phoning a stranger. But looking back at recent months, I can see both that I still had a lot of progress to make - and that I've actually made some of that progress.
With hindsight, it's obvious that my exaggerated emotional response to racewank '07 was an offshoot of social phobia. That response gnawed at me for months, until I had my epiphany in February this year. I think the CBT training is somewhat visible in that posting - I'm challenging incorrect or unbalanced statements with more accurate and fair ones. Lest I be accused again of "playing the martyr", the crucial thing was that I began to challenge those statements in my own mind.
Similarly, I was able to walk away from the latest anon meme, rather than hanging about anxiously trying to defend myself. After all, not worrying about what asshats say about me online was my New Year's Resolution. :-)
So: progress in fixing my social phobia in my main avenue of social interaction, the Internet. But what about IRL? In part two of this exciting account, the fun I had talking everyone's assorted limbs off at Conjunction 2008. :-)
