# Do you think my therapist can help me with this problem?



## tednugent2007 (Oct 28, 2007)

On Saturday I'm gonna tell him about my two main problems:

1) Anxiety that prevents me from dealing with people without extreme paranoia and nervousness. I've come to the conclusion that this cannot be solved without meds. Maybe I'm wrong, but the last 5 years I've tried and it's been hell. 

2) Inability to make eye contact while talking with people.

The first one is mainly because of my brain chemistry. I think when I hit puberty, my nerves became very unstable and I just started worrying about every little thing.

The second problem is a bit tougher. It probably has something to do with my thinking as well, but it feels more like a bad habit I picked up along the way. The first time I was on meds, they didn't help this problem, so I'm wondering if there are some exercises or things we can do in the office that can help with this problem. 

Do you think therapists deal with this problem alot? Have you guys talked to your therapist about eye contact problems? What have they said? I'm just wondering if there is a deeper reason I'm having such a problem with this and if there are things I can do to get over it. I haven't seen my therapist in 5 years and I've never mentioned this problem to him before. I wonder if he will just poo poo it as paranoia. I hope not. It feels like it's really holding me back.


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## aries (May 2, 2008)

Yes! That's what therapy is for. A good therapist will help train you to challenge your irrational thoughts (as long as you can identify them as irrational) and overcome them... the more you work at it the more automatic remembering to challenge them becomes and eventually it's second nature to ignore or overcome your apprehension.


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## gaffer (May 17, 2008)

A therapist can definitely help with those things. One thing to keep in mind is that every therapist is different, so don't hesitate to swap them out for another if you're not a match.
I've seen plenty of so-so and down right terrible therapists until I found one that really fit me. Make sure they're specialized in the areas you need help with.

Meds aren't the solution, but they might ease your anxiety enough to allow you to make the steps to correct your SA. 

I don't have a problem looking people in the eyes except for when somebody is angry with me and being confrontational. So thanks for making me realize that's something I need to work on myself.


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## 49 and all loan (Dec 28, 2011)

i have talked to my therapist about this and a lot of really personal problems i'm having. they will really try to help you


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## bottleofblues (Aug 6, 2008)

Gaffers right, there are some really terrible therapists out there, shop around if you feel the one you're seeing ain't helping you. I used to have a real problem with eye contact as well i tried forcing myself to look people in the eye but never really go anywhere with that. I guess somewhere along the line i stopped worrying about it and now its not a problem.
I read somewhere that anxiety tends to lessen with age i'm 33 now and my SA is definitely a lot less than when i was a teen and in early twentys. Although obviously you don't want to sit round waiting for time to heal things.


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