"If you were looking at me now, you’d probably be thinking, “He’s not bad looking, but he’s certainly no Tom Cruise.” WTF LOL! j/k but seriously I did find this a bit motivating. Thanks Infected.
_________________ "But she's not afraid to die, the people all call her Alaska
Between worlds so the people ask her 'cause it's all in her mind"
Social anxiety is as real as any other anxiety disorder. Anxiety is caused by environmental as well as genetic factors. Any motivational mumbo jumbo is simply trying to get people with it to overcome it. If they're trying to get people to overcome it, then how can it possibly not be real?
However, I do find the best therapy is just self acceptance when you've got a physical problem like I do (panic disorder) where panic attacks occur in certain places as well as just out of the blue. I've found if I can just be happy with the hand I've been dealt, and focus on the strength it brings to my personality rather than the weakness, then my anxiety during those certain predictable social situation isn't nearly as bad.
One could also argue that happiness isn't real, but I don't think that'd be such an appropriate message for the motivational speakers of the world who've never known greater success than when they began selling people messages of often hopeless hope.
I read the motivational article and found it unbelievably patronising. I cringed when I saw that diagram reducing the problem to a circle representing the 'comfort zone' and two crosses representing 'terrified' and 'slightly afraid'. I didn't appreciate the way 'comfort zone' was put in italics as if it was a new and difficult term that we might find it a little hard to get to grips with. The bit about developing your 'courage muscle' was beyond parody- the human mind is a bit more complex and mysterious than a 'muscle' or a circle and a cross and this man seems to only actually have one idea- make yourself do things you're scared of and you wont be scared anymore. This may be true with some fears and some situations but it's a bit inadequate as a catch-all remedy for something as complex as social phobia. It also lays the blame entirely on the shoulders of the social anxiety sufferer- it's all your fault because you're not trying hard enough. It made me a bit irritated because I struggle every day with things that scare me but most of the time this doesn't bring about any miraculous improvement in my condition.
My Dad's best friend was a social phobic who pushed himself incredibly hard in a medical career, facing his worst fears every day but he just couldn't handle it and ended up killing himself. There is so much more to the whole question of how to get over s.p. than the facile, patronising arguments of this absurd article!!!! Sorry, I am having a bit of a bad day so had to 'let rip'.
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