Social Anxiety Treatment

Millions of Americans today suffer from social anxiety disorder. I would know, I used to be one of them. It's not a fun thing to have, believe you me. Now, there are several methods for social anxiety treatment out there, not all of which are the most intelligent or practical. I don't claim to be an omniscient authority on the matter, but having come out of it firsthand I can definitely tell you how to rip out of the wrest of negative, destructive thinking.

Some argue that the disorder is genetic - you inherit it from your parents, who have either manifested or latent genes for that particular disorder. Yeah, there is evidence of that. But what does that mean? You accept your "fate" and decide to be a fidgety, nervous, anxious individual your entire life? Why subject yourself to that?

Now, the conditioning argument is also valid - you have been treated, for whatever reason, poorly by your peers or family growing up, and that perception of the world carries over to your interactions into adulthood. Remember though - the rest of the world isn't like the little environment you grew up in.

We're fragile as human beings, and easily suspectible to pathology if our environments don't provide us with the requisite love and compassion that we all deserve. But forget all that.

You don't have to put up with this.

I was harassed and abused my peers in school, despite my best efforts to get along with everybody. Their constant hostility crippled my ego and made me fear leaving the house to interact with people. I accepted this as the norm, because I had no other lifestyle to compare it to. But eventually, I realized I wanted more in life. And I was denying myself the right to have it.

The more I thought about it, the more I thought about how wrong it was to have suffered so needlessly. To have endured the irrational scorn and mockery of my peers. They had robbed me of my dignity.

I finally forced myself out of that reclusive state. Every move I made from then on was with pure deliberation, pure courage. What spawned these newfound emotions? The need for revenge.

I desired to see my peers all suffer the way I had suffered, and I was proud to declare it to their faces. My newfound "aggressive maniac" temperament was satisfying and empowering. At the same time, I spent my time thinking only of retribution - in a sense, the need for revenge had crippled my social life just the same way the anxiety had. I wasn't really living my life. I was still controlled by those people who had harmed me. I couldn't enjoy my life consumed in hate. I eventually realized that I was masking my fear of people with a synthetic hatred of people. That just didn't work - when comes the part where I would ENJOY my life? And don't I owe myself the right to enjoy it?

I came to realize that the only person in this world - and this is gospel truth - the only person you can rely on in this world is YOURSELF. You can't afford to tell yourself negative things. You can't afford to believe negative things. You can't afford to be self-destructive. When someone passes judgment on you, YOU are responsible for how you interpret that judgment, and ultimately, the gatekeeper for that message is YOUR OWN MIND. You don't have to hold on to worthless or irrelevant information. The brain tends to filter out useless crap. You don't care how many trees are along the highway you're driving when you're looking for the right exit. Similarly, you shouldn't care what people think of you when you're creating an opinion FOR YOURSELF. Instantly, you can stop and think - this person has their own problems. I have no need to fear them. As a matter of fact, they probably worry about how I judge THEM. And that's the truth.

Systematic desensitization and subconscious self-cultivation are some of the best ways to condition your way out of social anxiety, and sustain a social anxiety treatment. Don't waste your time building more neuroses on top of your anxiety. Don't displace your frustration onto others, creating even more misery and problems for yourself.

This interesting book I've come across works wonders. It involves the very lessons I learned the hard way, and when you're through with it... well, you'll probably be even more confident than the average person. You won't be an assertive, confident individual in spite of your anxiety... you'll be an assertive confident individual BECAUSE you once had anxiety. Check it out, and realize how this supposed curse may just be the blessing you need, with social anxiety treatment.