Cure for Socialphobia?

[Neebo]

I was just wondering as medical science becomes more and more advanced, does anyone think that scientists will ever find a proper cure for Socialphobia? I mean the type that completely cures you of SA/SP. I mean think about it, if scientists and technology can put man on the moon, then why can't they find a cure for SA/SP :? I think more scientific and medical research should be done into how Socialphobia is caused and what can be done to try to cure it completely.

 

[Danfalc]

Sadly i dont think there is a cure to be found for social anxiety, i wish there was but i think it's to complicated a thing to be able to cure it.

Im not saying i dont think you cant get better from it through,but everyone has to find there own way to beat it.And i totaly agree with more scientific and medical research being done.

 

[MadCat]

In my time when I was researching everything I could about social phobia and where I'm at (avoidant personality disorder) I must of found lots of articles on social phobia being very much curable. In most cases, group therapy seems to work pretty well and CBT. Social phobia / social anxiety are just that..disorders/phobias. While they are VERY hard to cure (due to having to live under the stress social situations almost daily) it is very much possible. When social phobia crosses over into a personality disorder, you're looking at basically very little chance for a cure but instead a management/cope thing.

I think this is where it's hard for me to relate to lots of people here. My solution will end up having to deal with things insteadof finding an actual cure. I think while a person still has social phobia they still have a big chance/hope to find at least a partial cure. Depending on the stress and/or how bad the depression is it all depends on how bad/good it can get. Some people just can't get better, while some can.

But then again, I don't even believe social phobia and AvPD are connected that much, so I really shouldn't compare or contradict myself any further.

So to answer your question Neebo:

Social Phobia cure rate is individual based. It's a very simple answer but that about sums it up.

 

[ignisfatuus]

Social phobia / social anxiety are just that..disorders/phobias. While they are VERY hard to cure (due to having to live under the stress social situations almost daily) it is very much possible

There are some distinctions that need to be made about SA first of all. This is probably going to set off a rash of angry replies but so be it. Generalised SA and sub-threshold SA are two different things. Basically, if you're married, work, or do other things that uninhibited individuals are capable of doing then you do not have severe SA.


As for he above quote, it seems to derogate the seriousness of SA in comparison to AvPD and is why I'm replying in the first place. A person cannot be much more removed from a "normal" lifestyle than I am now. This is not a "Woe is me", head-in-the-sand assumption; if I were to list my current state of affairs in comparison to a person of my age any objective person could see something is extremely wrong. And as for my above layperson observation that people who are or have been married, work etc. do not have what I have, well, if you look at SA as a continuum then I am wrong. I don't however. Asking for distinction between the two poles is a stretch, seeing as how most group treatments are comprised of a conglomerate of anxiety disorders; viz., there's not even a recognition by professionals that SA is unique from the others (it is, IMO) and requires a carefully tailored treatment program rather than the generic bullshit that is offered.


*damnit, my train of thought has wandered mid-rant. The effing dog just ran outside with something...*

 

[MadCat]

Thanks. I don't mean to derogate on purpose.

I was just replying with what I had read and researched on the net and added bi tof personal touch to it. On a personal note, AvPD in itself is hard to treat because of the misunderstandings..once again, I am sick of professionals who think SA and AvPD are the same thing.

At the end of the day this is all labels froma bunch of fuckers who have littl or no experience in either.

A person could see me as having severe SP and I'd go with that, but I much prfere to just go with the personality disorder as it has much more in common with me (as my personality is totally fucked up).

All in all a good reply and a good read. Thanks alot! Learning more and more everyday.

 

[ignisfatuus]

At the end of the day these are all labels from a bunch of fuckers who have little or no experience in either.

Couldn't agree more.

Like I mentioned in the post above, my remarks are made from a lay perspective. I also have not read much on the subject, beyond a few articles. Why not? I don't think reading the literature on the subject is going to help me at this point. We as sufferers seem to have more insight than the therapists who are supposed to be helping us.

Having gone through a counsellor, three psychologists, and a psychiatrist without any significant progress being made has left me broken. Picking up the pieces to have them knocked down by an ignorant comment from a therapist who has no idea what SA is or how to deal with it doesn't appeal to me. There has to be a better way.

 

[thugaveli]

The cure is simple but complex at the same time

All that is needed is for our thoughts to change, block out certain thoughts (negative thoughts) from our minds and i think thats 90% cured if not 100%
SP is all in the mind so if we can change our mental state thats it, surely? so simple!! hehe NOT

If only we knew how to control our own minds :roll:

I can't see scientists discovering anything that will change our thoughts unless its something that knocks you out like morphine
Something that will block out negative thoughts without making us drowsy or unconcious........i just can't see it

As science advances (but not in our lifetime) i would remain positive that scientists or surgeons would be able to pick out parts of the brain / mind where its all happening and be able to do something about it

 

[black_mamba]

I mean think about it, if scientists and technology can put man on the moon, then why can't they find a cure for SA/SP Confused I think more scientific and medical research should be done into how Socialphobia is caused and what can be done to try to cure it completely.

Yeah but you're comparing too completely different branches of technology/science, they don't always progress at the same rate. Its amazing isn't it though, that we could potentially travel to that great big grey rock in the sky yet not be able to find a cure for this fear. [To be honest I don't think space travel has progressed that much anyway, you should hear some of the reasons why missions fail! 8O It's embarrassing]

I don't know what stage psychological study is at, but I'm guessing there is still a long way to go before medicine can be used to cure SP. I'm more used to physics, so forgive the example, but when you study a system based on its physical characteristics you often have just a handful of variables e.g. speed, friction, mass, direction etc. but with the human brain you've got all sorts; message transmissions & storage , long and short term memories, message processing blah blah

My opinion is that the human brain has so many interacting variables that it would be very difficult to design a medicine for SP that wouldn't also make us stupid (like thugaveli mentioned, it would probably turn us into zombies). Because a cure for SP may want to dimish certain thoughts, but how can it be so specific as to target only those emotions to do with social situations? It may remove all our thoughts until we become brain dead socialites. Great, just like everyone else then. :roll:

I think give it another 5000 years and then, maybe, post this topic up again and we shall see!

 

[Cryptolysergick]

Theres a cure called Gorilla Biscuits, just pop in the cd and listen 24/7 motivation overload!

 

[nerdgirl178]

The new Scientific American magazine wrote something about oxytocin can cure Social Phobia, trying to find more information about this on the web. Later.

 

[Cryptolysergick]

You're smart and penis size matters, im screwed.(it must be true)