Social phobia

[Aud]

Im going to therapy to overcome my social phobia which ive had for 9 years. The psychologist is trying CBT with me but I feel the anxiety is too stubborn to get any effect with this.. I'm really tired of fighting it and having people react angrily to my problems...just wish it would end. Has anyone tried CBT??

[james1]

Hey Aud,

Welcome to the forums, it sounds like you're really struggling with your social phobia and really wanting to overcome it. That's really impressive because it's also really hard, but totally doable.

I haven't really had much experience with CBT but I've been through therapies that weren't working for me, as well as therapies which I thought weren't helping me, but really were.

The best thing to do, I think, is to have an honest chat about your therapist about why you don't feel like it's helping then give it a fair and honest go. If you are not convinced by the explanation and really do feel like you've given the therapy a chance, but it's just not working, then frankly you are wasting your time. Therapy only really works when we give it a go and we need to believe in it a little bit for this to happen. Otherwise we just reject, reject, reject.

There's a lot of work placed on us in therapy and it's super hard. But you sound very determined, so that's good 🙂 It's your health, so if you really feel like it's not for you, you need to find something that does work.

It's been a year now and I've been through Schema Therapy, DBT and TFP for my disorder. Still trying to work out whether this is right for me, but perseverence is key 🙂

James

[Stu1]

Hi Aud,

I have had some experience with CBT and have mixed feelings about how well it worked for me. I found some of the exercises really helpful, such as breathing exercises to reduce anxiety and other methods to take your mind off of what is causing the anxiety, and i found other things less helpful but i think that was more down to the therapist than the actual therapy. I think the key is to really commit to the therapy for a good length of time before drawing any conclusions. CBT isn't an instant fix and it takes a while before the benefits are enjoyed, so give it a good go. Having said that, be open with your therapist and discuss any concerns you have with the program - they may decide to try with something else.

I know it is exhausting to feel like this so make sure you lighten the load - talk to your therapist, make contact on the forums, talk to a friend. Remember you aren't alone!

Good luck

Stu