# Forced into Extreme social fears becomes forced into a lot of fun!



## Psychologist (Apr 3, 2012)

Hey guys so i had my first EMT lab class on friday. A Six hour class of performing EMT skills. The whole class was human contact in groups. Talk about scary. The first the the instructor did was make us partner up with one other person. Then he would call out body parts and we'd have to touch those body parts with our partner until we were in some weird position lolol. It was to make us comfortable with touching ect. 

Anyways, i was put into many different groups where would have to move people, roll people, and hold their heads for long periods of time. It was damn scary at first but after the first couple procedures i felt so much better! Hell i even felt confident and had a blast! I socialized easier and was the leader of many of my groups some of which were all girls! I joked around with the ladies and as a joke made them have to pick me up and move me. 

This came at a perfect moment too. I had just stopped my medication the week before (lexapro) which at first helped tremendously but eventually made things worse. I am living proof that flooding works, but its so hard to practice flooding unless ur forced into it like i was. So find something you need to do that involves groups! I found that paying close attention to the instructors so i knew everything perfectly helped a lot because it enabled to me to talk to people and help them. 

Coping with SA is difficult to say the least, but there are a couple things that have helped me substantially. 1. Find something you like about yourself. If your smart or if theres something about you that makes you special, then take advantage of that. You will start reversing the negative self talk and build confidence. 2. Accept your SA. This allowed me to stop SA from taking over my life. It totally changed my perspective. I dont let social mistakes turn me into an obsessive self hating awkward penguin. I forgive myself and move on, proud that i at least made attempts at talking ect. 3. Face your fear. Ive noticed that after making myself go out and socialize, ive developed an ability to block out many of the irrational thoughts and control my fight or flight response.

I still have SA and it still gets me down, but making any attempt at treatment, small or big, really goes a long way. Your not going to see a light at the end of the tunnel if you refuse to open your eyes. Stay positive and live your life! Goodluck to you all


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## Openyoureyes (Jun 13, 2012)

thhanks for the tips
&haha sounds soo awkward ! glad it worked out


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## Wilbur (Jun 13, 2012)

Nice post, I enjoyed reading your tips. What are your plans with the EMT license?

And I'm not familiar with the term "flooding", what's that? Is it like diving into the deep end of social situations, so to speak?


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## sweetluvgurl (Jul 9, 2012)

Awww, congrats.  Good job on overcoming your fears and having a successful day. And thanks for the tips. Sometimes, I find if I just would make myself do things, sometimes they'd turn out better than I imagined.


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## Psychologist (Apr 3, 2012)

Thanks a bunch you guys. @wilbur, I plan on first becoming a paramedic. After some time working as a paramedic, i plan on joining the police force to become an officer or swat medic.


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## Wilbur (Jun 13, 2012)

Really cool - best wishes with the class and pursuing your career interests. Medics are bada$$.


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