Social Phobias Center

Anyone have some tips on how to get over this??

I have a moderate case of social phobia and would like some help with this.

Any tips you can give me?

social phobia is common as are many other phobias. The best way to conquer a phobia, is to take it a day at a time, & slowly face your phobias. Having a postive attitude helps also. May I suggest that you get out into the public more & more. Do this with friends, who will help you conquer this fear, if they’re true friends. Times will come, when you should get out by yourself. It may be every uncomfy, but you can do it. There are lots of self help books to buy or borrow from the library. The internet may be able to help you choose which books are more helpful. Good luck to you!!!

could it be that a long-term social phobia lead to depression?

Depressed people that I have met also seem to have a social phobia, too. Phobia, of course, means fear, a fear of meeting people. More normal to occur in adolescents who are unsure of themselves and have lacked, through no fault of their own, the basic ability to meet and talk along with people. It is unreasonable in the way it works, but it happens.

On the other hand, depression was explained to me just yesterday in an article which stated that depression happens when people who should be happy with how they are in their lives are not that way. My wife used to be unhappy unless she had something to worry about. Not that that made her happy. It drove me nuts. She was nuts and I never knew it and when I did I could not get help for her because, by law, nobody could do anything for her unless she asked for it. Not me, her husband. She was off with the fairies. She died from it and there was not a thing I could do. Diagnosis; depression.

I have been diagnosed with severe social phobia and social anxiety. I have been off medication and therapy for about three months now, but it started getting worse right after it started getting better. Now I can’t physically, emotionally, or mentally hold a full-time job, which is the amount of money I need to keep my apartment. Is there anything out there that will help me find a full-time job I can handle or at least get me some kind of disability money so that I could work part-time until I am able to work full-time?

Get a note from the doctor that says you are being treated for an illness and that you will be out of work for a period of time. Then call up TDI (temporary disability insurance) and file a claim.

They are the same thing

http://socialanxiety.factsforhealth.org/

http://www.socialphobia.org/whatis.html

I am a certified, licensed hypnotherapist. I believe most anything can be overcome with hypnosis. When the post hypnotic suggestion covers the phobia, you feel most comfortable in that situation. Still, as a psychologist, I do believe that realizing why you have the fear is MORE helpful. Actually, I used to feel terrified in front of a group. Then, I learned to channel THAT feeling into a fully acceptable way of using that energy to entertain people and to make speeches, etc.. I love being in front of a group, now. (Not fearing as I did as a child and teen).

I am a man suffering from social phobia or very difficulty to make friendship with others around me. I feel very much shy and uncomfortable when I go to public places where I meet people. I feel that my face become pale and red and others look at me ridiculous. My question is how long I will have to wait for a cure if I approach a specialist to cure this phobia of mine.

Well, first you need to be diagnosed by a professional. People with social anxiety or social phobia usually respond quite well to cognitive and behavioral therapy. Most of those therapies usually take between 3 and 6 months to start taking effect, depending on how you respond to therapy.

I suffer from anxiety disorder and I’ve been in therapy for nearly a year. I started feeling better after 5 or 6 months of therapy but I know I still have a long way to go.

Good luck to you!

I have been searching for this for a long time now and haven’t had any luck. Even information on a therapist with special training in social phobia/social anxiety would help a lot.

Thanks in advance for the feedback.

Check the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Find-a-Therapist service. You can limit your search to social skills or social anxiety.

if so, how much does it cost? Not for the appoinment/evaluation/diagnosis, but the medicine alone

i have socila pjobia and i take paxil which without insurance is around 20$ not bad bc they have generis, now im on zoloft and it costs me 10$ and seems to work great. im able to work in public withour pannic attacks and able to go out with my fiance to public places and go out on my own, i used to tkae zanax which u take at the onset of a pannic but i dont need them now bc the zoloft works great, i recommend it bc its the only drug that i have been able to work fine with a small dose rather then a large dose. smaller is better bc you dont feel dependant, there is also celexa which i used but eventually stopped working. still zoloft is the best . my fiance has the same disorder and uses it too

My doctor prescribed me Vyvanse for my ADHD (inattentive type).
I believe I have hypomania, social anxiety disorder, and occasional depression also. I’m not to the point where I will ask a doctor about it, but I’m looking into OTC treatments. social phobia is usually treated with SSRI antidepressants. Hypomania is usually treated with lithium or mood stabilizers. SSRIs will make Hypomania worse.

I am considering starting myself on some lithium orotate and st. john’s wort extract. The lithium orotate is an OTC version of what they give bipolar and hypomania people. (Some say lithium orotate helps ADHD) St. John’s Wort will give me more serotonin which should help with the social phobia. Anti-anxiety medications sometimes are prescribed for social anxiety disorder people too, so I could substitute l-theanine or kava for that.

Your thoughts?

Also, I believe I also have a condition (i forget the name) where I believe I have a bunch of other mental conditions. That too is treated with SSRIs.

Hypomania/depression cycles are known as Cyclothymic Disorder. I’m wondering why you’re not being honest to your prescribing doctor about the full range of your symptoms.

My thoughts:

Yes, SSRIs can turn your highs into mania, but so can St. John’s Wort! I wouldn’t touch it if I were you. I’m sure you don’t want all your productive time turning into a psychotic episode.

Lithium can be highly toxic at levels barely beyond the therapeutic level, so be very careful about self-medicating with any form of it. How are you going to know what your blood levels are? Kava can be dangerous to the liver in the form it is commonly available in. You probably know all this already.

If you believe you have all these mental conditions, why are you not talking with a professional about them?

It’s getting really hard dealing with Erythrophobia. If you don’t know what that is, you can google it, too.
Erythrophobia is a phobia linked with social anxiety. Basically you blush. A lot. Like, beyond red. Sometimes it’s just a little, sometimes a lot. It can be just your face, just your ears, just your neck, or maybe all of those. People try curing Erythrophobia by seeing a therapist, taking special medications (however they aren’t aproved by the FDA) having hypnosis, or even going through a risky and extremely painful procedure called endoscopic transthoracic sympathectomy. (google that if you have questions).
I have Erythrophobia and it affects my day to day life. I won’t talk to certain people. I won’t get certain jobs, I avoid social situations and the hardest thing is- almost no one knows about this. Any suggestions or kind words?
Here’s something from an article about Erythrophobia that is very true for me:
To people who have never experienced problem blushing, Erythrophobia, is likely to seem silly and be very difficult to understand. However, Erythrophobia is no laughing matter. For those who suffer from Erythrophobia, it is a very real and serious concern. The tendency to blush excessively, combined with an irrational fear of blushing that triggers additional blushing, can affect every component of daily life.

It is not uncommon for people with Erythrophobia to develop additional social phobias as they seek ways to avoid blushing. They are very likely to experience feelings of hopelessness and withdraw from situations that require human interaction on any level. People who experience Erythrophobia commonly develop depression.

By raising awareness of Erythrophobia and problem blushing, the general public will hopefully become more understanding of the serious nature of this problem. (cont:
As problem blushing becomes more widely understood for the serious problem that it is, people who suffer from problem blushing may be able to become less self-conscious about their problem.

i have THE same problem. Like the littlest things make me blush and its sooo embarrasing. I didnt even know that there was a technical term for it. It is hard living with this because its like "oh god ami going to blush now?" and i do. Ive tried to relax and try not to blush but it just happens. I probably didnt answer your question, because i dont know how, but your not alone