# CBT Question: Identifying Thoughts



## ecudes (Aug 15, 2013)

I've read several books on CBT in order to improve my social confidence as I feel anxious in social situations.
I understand thoughts cause feelings, and the basis of CBT is to analyse the thoughts that trigger feelings and actions. The only problem is I have difficulty identifying my thoughts, I just feel anxious, and my face tenses up and I speak fast. I basically have all the effects, but I can't seem to isolate the thought triggering it! A lot of people complain of their mind racing with thoughts when they are anxious. I have the complete opposite, my mind is clear of thoughts, but I still feel anxious/tense in social situations. 

Is there any way I can identify these underlying thoughts?

thanks,

Richard


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## paulyD (Feb 16, 2011)

ecudes said:


> I've read several books on CBT in order to improve my social confidence as I feel anxious in social situations.
> I understand thoughts cause feelings, and the basis of CBT is to analyse the thoughts that trigger feelings and actions. The only problem is I have difficulty identifying my thoughts, I just feel anxious, and my face tenses up and I speak fast. I basically have all the effects, but I can't seem to isolate the thought triggering it! A lot of people complain of their mind racing with thoughts when they are anxious. I have the complete opposite, my mind is clear of thoughts, but I still feel anxious/tense in social situations.
> 
> Is there any way I can identify these underlying thoughts?
> ...


 i had a lot of difficulty identifying my thoughts too. it seemed that when I felt anxious my mind was blank. this is mainly due to the fact that ive been socially anxious for so many years that the thought patterns are autmatic and hard to notice. however by asking myself, after a social event, some key questions from gillian butlers overcoming social anxiety and shyness book i was able to identify what these social events meant to me and what exactly it was that i was scared of. some key questions include : *what is the worst thing that might have happend *what is it about this situation that matters to you *what are you affraid will happen in the situation *what does it mean about you i was able to identify that basically in social events i was affraid that other people would spot/pick up on my anxiety. i was scared that people would notice my nervous tone of voice, see an anxious expression on my face, see me blush etc.... the reason i was scared that others would notice my anxiety is becasue i beleived that if they did then they would lose all respect for me. i beleived that people would think that i was pathetic and a loser and that they would have no respect for me. i also beleived that some people would bully me if they seen my anxious and that if other people seen me getting bullied they would think i was a loser and therefore have no respect for me and reject me. i beleived that i must hide my vulnerability from people and put on an act of being strong in order to protect myself from rejection and ridicule and criticism. and the reason for this is because deep down i beleived that ''people are mean and nasty'' so even though i found it difficult to identify the thoughts in my head during social events i was still able to bascially unravel the root of my social anxiety by asking certain questions after the event


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## Dylan2 (Jun 3, 2012)

ecudes said:


> I've read several books on CBT in order to improve my social confidence as I feel anxious in social situations.
> I understand thoughts cause feelings, and the basis of CBT is to analyse the thoughts that trigger feelings and actions. The only problem is I have difficulty identifying my thoughts, I just feel anxious, and my face tenses up and I speak fast. I basically have all the effects, but I can't seem to isolate the thought triggering it! A lot of people complain of their mind racing with thoughts when they are anxious. I have the complete opposite, my mind is clear of thoughts, but I still feel anxious/tense in social situations.
> 
> Is there any way I can identify these underlying thoughts?
> ...


Well, CBT is a combination of cognitive and behavioral therapy. So yes, the basis of cognitive therapy is to identify negative thoughts. But, if you aren't having these thoughts, you could just focus on the behavioral side - exposure to social situations.

Approximately 55% of people with social anxiety disorder respond to behavioral therapy. Approximately 55% respond to cognitive behavioral therapy. So adding the cognitive part doesn't seem to matter either way.

If you still really want to identify those thoughts, you could try looking at case studies or posts on this forum and seeing if any of those thoughts could apply to you. It could be that your thoughts are so ingrained that they aren't readily accessible.


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## Turtle (Jun 14, 2006)

I agree that it's best if both the cognitive therapy and behavioral therapy are combined together, because they need each other to work... for example, I remember when I had bad social anxiety, I would try to just "force" myself into social situations without preparing for it by thinking more rationally first, and this did not help me... it only made my social anxiety worse and my negative thoughts more prevalent...

Also though, when I just started doing cognitive therapy by itself, but not getting out of the house and exposing myself to social situations, this did not help me much either... I may have been thinking more rationally, but a large spike of anxiety would come up whenever I entered social situations I was avoiding for awhile, and it overall just took longer to make progress... I DID need to go out and expose myself to social situations to keep making progress, rather than just studying the cognitive material all day - so I think it's best for both to be combined. Here's an article arguing why behavioral therapy alone is unlikely to work just by itself, at least for social anxiety: http://socialanxietyinstitute.org/why-behavioral-therapy-alone-does-not-work-social-anxiety

I do think it's possible though for behavioral therpy to work alone, if a person with SA just didn't have too many negative thoughts to begin with, or if they just kept it up enough or were around a positive environment... but without those things in place, I think both cognitive and behavioral have to be combined for the therapy to really help much.


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## RecoveredWell (Jun 10, 2013)

With 60000 thoughts per day it can be draining to keep track of each and everyone, I just try and do the best I can things seem to be going great for me through CBT.


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## Neoz (Feb 3, 2012)

What is CBT? Current body thread?


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## Dylan2 (Jun 3, 2012)

Neoz said:


> What is CBT? Current body thread?


CBT = contemporary badgers teleport

Or

Cognitive behavioral therapy


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