Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight Show mentioned Social Anxiety during his monologue the other evening. To paraphrase, it was something about new research showing that regular exercise can help with social anxiety and then there was a joke about people staring at you wearing short shorts at the gym. This didn't surprise me too much because it seems as if social anxiety has come a long way in the last 20 years. There are still some individuals (seems to be more in the psychiatric field) that don't really acknowledge social anxiety but lump it in with generalized anxiety. At least this is the experience I've had with my psychiatrist. The appointments that I have with him last about 5 minutes and the result of these brief visits are usually - "If the medication seems to be working I will call you out another 6 months worth. If not, let's try another drug that might do the trick."
The lumping of social anxiety with generalized anxiety is perhaps a way to make the problem easier to write prescriptions for. I think that the psychological field has made more progress in SA due to the good results that they've been getting with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Psychiatrists is general would lose their patients that they've been prescribing Xanax and Paxil to for years if they admit that the results are leaning more toward CBT being an actual cure. Most of us in normal society live and learn. Patients that keep themselves educated in the specific subject of SA and not just anxiety as a whole might soon be trading their psychiatrists for psychologists or other experts that are familiar with CBT. From what I've read there are actual groups (like you would have for AA) that meet in some areas (mostly in large European cities) that have helped many, many people. I've yet to see this trend take effect in the United States but I don't live in a large city.
A lot of the leaders in seeking to help those with SA recommend that they join a Toastmasters group (which isn't a bad idea) but wouldn't it be great to be able to start in a CBT group with those that have the same specific problems as you rather than the normal anxiety related to public speaking? After all, social anxiety covers a lot more ground than public speaking alone. How would I have the strength to join Toastmasters when I can't even go to church?
I'm not saying that anti-anxiety medication is a bad thing (I'm currently on a low dose myself), but the results aren't exactly what I've hoped for and this is partly my fault. A lot of patients though wouldn't see this and they just want the pain to go away so they will ask their psychiatrist to keep raising the dose until they are in a zombie-like state. There is a masking effect that must be addressed. This effect might be a good thing to help make the coping of and getting over social anxiety (and anxiety in general) more manageable while you work on it until you are out of the old habits that caused us to get into this mess in the first place. While taking anti-anxiety medication you have an opportunity to work on things that you might not have had the gumption to work on before some of the anxiety was alleviated.
Here lies the problem. If you're only seeing a Psychiatrist and not anyone else about your anxiety; you are only getting the narcotic effects of alleviating symptoms that are a result of deeper issues that haven't been addressed. I've made the same mistake and I'm currently trying to correct this. Can "chemical imbalances" be corrected without medication? Seems like it has worked for some. I'm not saying that there aren't a myriad of mental illnesses that don't benefit from medication nor am I saying that everyone should flush their pills and deal with these disorders differently. No, what I'm saying is that anxiety (specifically) seems to be an issue that has to be dealt with in our heads whether or not you take medication and that we just can no longer ignore this.
Perhaps there is a better way that I'm just now seeing but others have known for years. Perhaps there is some sort of transitional period that we should be going through when dealing with social anxiety. The transition from drugs (at a point when your doctor permits) to a rewiring of the brain that can only happen with the gaining of a wisdom and philosophy that we don't yet have; along with practice using these new philosophies in the real world. We mustn't go far for these philosophies with the internet and all of the access we have to the works of men and women who've dealt with anxiety and tragedy for thousands of years and have overcome. You can start by just reading quotes such as these and watching videos like this one and also this one. There are countless links I could give you and I will add many more but it always helps to know that we are not alone with our issues and that there are people out there that have overcome things that you see (in your current state) as impossible.
Suggested reading:
The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday
When People are Big and God is Small by Edward T. Welch
A lot of the leaders in seeking to help those with SA recommend that they join a Toastmasters group (which isn't a bad idea) but wouldn't it be great to be able to start in a CBT group with those that have the same specific problems as you rather than the normal anxiety related to public speaking? After all, social anxiety covers a lot more ground than public speaking alone. How would I have the strength to join Toastmasters when I can't even go to church?
I'm not saying that anti-anxiety medication is a bad thing (I'm currently on a low dose myself), but the results aren't exactly what I've hoped for and this is partly my fault. A lot of patients though wouldn't see this and they just want the pain to go away so they will ask their psychiatrist to keep raising the dose until they are in a zombie-like state. There is a masking effect that must be addressed. This effect might be a good thing to help make the coping of and getting over social anxiety (and anxiety in general) more manageable while you work on it until you are out of the old habits that caused us to get into this mess in the first place. While taking anti-anxiety medication you have an opportunity to work on things that you might not have had the gumption to work on before some of the anxiety was alleviated.
Perhaps there is a better way that I'm just now seeing but others have known for years. Perhaps there is some sort of transitional period that we should be going through when dealing with social anxiety. The transition from drugs (at a point when your doctor permits) to a rewiring of the brain that can only happen with the gaining of a wisdom and philosophy that we don't yet have; along with practice using these new philosophies in the real world. We mustn't go far for these philosophies with the internet and all of the access we have to the works of men and women who've dealt with anxiety and tragedy for thousands of years and have overcome. You can start by just reading quotes such as these and watching videos like this one and also this one. There are countless links I could give you and I will add many more but it always helps to know that we are not alone with our issues and that there are people out there that have overcome things that you see (in your current state) as impossible.
Suggested reading:
The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday
When People are Big and God is Small by Edward T. Welch
No comments:
Post a Comment