# Has anyone tried attention retraining?



## jacksondoug3 (Sep 26, 2009)

http://www.managingyouranxiety.com/Attention-Retraining.aspx

I'm just curious if anyone's tried it. I'm a pretty big skeptic and I'm the first to shy away from anything that doesn't look legit, but my therapist (a board certified phd) recommended it.

It costs money, and no I'm not trying to sell anything. Just looking for feedback before I try it. :idea


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## Aldous (Mar 30, 2011)

i haven't but it looks promising. I wish i had enough money to take the risk and buy the program. If you do end up buying it and trying it out, please let us know how it is. 140 bucks for a viable solution is definitely worth it.


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## Aldous (Mar 30, 2011)

i decided to try it out. It can't hurt and i want to free from this once and for all. I'll let you know how it turns out over the coming weeks of using it.


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## sleepytime (Feb 18, 2011)

Isn''t this the same or similar software that they're trialing here?

http://www.socialanxietysupport.com...-worry-via-handheld-training-study-at-111018/

As it's a trial you have a 50/50 chance of being in the active group or the placebo group. If you're in the placebo group they will give you a chance to use the 'real' therapy once the trial is over.

I completed my trial one month ago, can't say I feel any change in my anxiety so I'm hoping I was in the placebo group. I have to wait one more month before I find out which group I was in, I'll post here once I find out.


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## Aldous (Mar 30, 2011)

ya it might be very similar. What was the training like exactly? 

The cognitive retraining technology basically shows you two faces, one of a grimace and one neutral, and you are asked to look at the top one everytime, which will alternate randomly between a netural face and a grimace face. And then you are also expected to press the left or right mouse clicker depending on what letter comes up on the screen after the picture is shown. Thats pretty much the gist of it. 

is that what the phone app one is like too?


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## sleepytime (Feb 18, 2011)

Aldous said:


> ya it might be very similar. What was the training like exactly?
> 
> The cognitive retraining technology basically shows you two faces, one of a grimace and one neutral, and you are asked to look at the top one everytime, which will alternate randomly between a netural face and a grimace face. And then you are also expected to press the left or right mouse clicker depending on what letter comes up on the screen after the picture is shown. Thats pretty much the gist of it.
> 
> is that what the phone app one is like too?


They say that the difference between the 'active' and 'control/placebo' software is so subtle that you won't be able to tell which group you're in.

The task I performed was almost identical but the tiniest, almost negligible bit different to what you described. I wouldn't even have considered them different except that the handheld training team say that the 'active' and 'placebo' software are so similar that you won't be able to tell which group you are in. Perhaps that tiny difference is the 'control group'? I've no idea.

I could post the difference on here but I don't want to compromise their trial by giving anyone hints about which group they might be in?


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## sleepytime (Feb 18, 2011)

Did you try it out Aldous? How's it going for you?


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## Aldous (Mar 30, 2011)

so i've been doing for a week now, once everyday. Its hard to say what is contributing to me doing better, because right around the same time i started this program, i also added on supplements to my regiment, changed my diet, started an audio CBT program, all out of desperation of wanting to get better and move on with my life. With that said, i can say that it seems to have improved my eye contact issues that i had before. Looking into people's eyes was a lot more difficult before as i would blank out mentally when doing it at times and that would obviously leave me with less to say to carry on the conversation. I can say that in the past week, its been improving, whereas i don't seem to pay much attention to how my eye contact is and i'm more involved in conversations. Could be because of the attentional retraining, could be because of CBT, or any other number of things, not sure. But i believe its helped a little. Its still too early to tell. A month of doing it consistently will let me know whether this can really help us or not. I'll keep you guys posted


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## sleepytime (Feb 18, 2011)

Aldous said:


> so i've been doing for a week now, once everyday. Its hard to say what is contributing to me doing better, because right around the same time i started this program, i also added on supplements to my regiment, changed my diet, started an audio CBT program, all out of desperation of wanting to get better and move on with my life. With that said, i can say that it seems to have improved my eye contact issues that i had before. Looking into people's eyes was a lot more difficult before as i would blank out mentally when doing it at times and that would obviously leave me with less to say to carry on the conversation. I can say that in the past week, its been improving, whereas i don't seem to pay much attention to how my eye contact is and i'm more involved in conversations. Could be because of the attentional retraining, could be because of CBT, or any other number of things, not sure. But i believe its helped a little. Its still too early to tell. A month of doing it consistently will let me know whether this can really help us or not. I'll keep you guys posted


Keep us updated, would love to hear how this is working for you after a month of use or so


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## jacksondoug3 (Sep 26, 2009)

I've been trying it for a couple weeks now and it seems like there's been an improvement, I'm not sure though. The way it works is it either flashes a neutral face or an aggressive face. When it shows the aggressive face it immediately makes you move your eyes to somewhere else on the screen. When it shows a neutral face it makes you keep your eyes on the area where the picture was flashed.

I'm glad it seems to be working out for you as well, Aldous.


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