# Would like some views on exposure therapy



## MEKG (Apr 29, 2011)

So far, everything I have done regarding exposure therapy has backfired pretty bad, and has made things worse a lot of the time. Has it helped anyone? I don't know if I should dive into the deep end and try doing the worst things first, or slowly progress up the ladder. Do things I feel a little anxiety about, and then go up as I cross each thing off the list. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed when I flood myself with crazy situations. 

For example, I ended up getting a job in a very social environement, and I found I couldn't focus on the small victories during the day because there were so many big fears to focus on the whole time. Where as, when I'm just walking on the street and someone smiles at me or gives a quick "hello" as they pass, it makes me feel amazing. Do you think it'd work if I focused on doing some of these smaller things, rather than one big huge life changing event?


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## Buzz180 (Jun 21, 2011)

Well I can't really speak for anyone else but I took up kicboxing nearly a year ago and I got paranoid for the first few trainings but I'm fine when I go there now I just get anxious when people talk to me I fought in a tournament in front of lots of people and lost but I guess the point is I did something that I wouldnt have done 2 years ago when I was at my worst. You just gotta kind of join an activity with people you don't know and you never reveal too much about your personal life or your SA I find that I get more paranoid around people who I've told. :yes


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## deelishuss (Apr 5, 2009)

I just started doing some exposure exercises and started with the most comfortable, meaning something with a low to moderate amount of anxiety associated with it. I've also come across several pictures relating exposure exercises to a ladder in which you do the easy stuff first and work your way up so I think you're on the right track.

There's an exposure plan on this site you may want to look at: http://www.moodjuice.scot.nhs.uk/shynesssocialphobia.asp


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## jenkydora (Nov 11, 2003)

I can only tell you my experience, but I dont wish it to influence your journey in anyway, cause each of us are different in how we respond to everything and everyone.

I faced my fear every week for 6 years and even received communion. I had a specific phobia of one particular priest and sat through the mass for one hour. It never became easy for me, it is the thought behind the fear and the experiences of a past and situations.

If you got thoughts fuelling the fear, doing exposure will do very little to nothing, if not making it worse, in my situation anyway. 
I believe exposure may be helpful as only a small part of a whole lot of tools. I think CBT mixed with some medication (short term) along with gentle exposure with no pressure, may be helpful to some people.

Good luck, hope you find what you are looking for.


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## borbiusle (Sep 26, 2009)

I did it once by accident. Was forced to get a door-to-door sales job in the city since my mom didn't want me sitting around the house all day. The first 3 weeks were absolutely brutal, I'd have butterflies in my stomach all the time, constantly be sweating, and feel like throwing up after every day. It wasn't fun having doors slammed in my face 1000's of times either. Eventually I just kinda went numbed to it and stopped having SA and finally did decent in sales, but slowly fell back into my old ways when I quit to go to school.


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## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

IMO Adderall XR mixed with CBT exposure therapy is the best treatment on earth for SA. I could write all my results and achievements since starting treatment but ive done so in other threads and feel too lazy to find them lol.


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## The Awkward One (Jun 30, 2011)

Load of bullsh*t to me. Though, I suppose it depends on the person.
I got social anxiety by being exposed to social situations-- so why would more exposure help me? I'm exposed everyday. I force myself to go to school, to the shops, ring people on the phone, etc. It doesn't help. It makes me more anxious, if anything.
If you are going to do it, I'd say start with little things first, then progress upwards from there.


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## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

The Awkward One said:


> Load of bullsh*t to me. Though, I suppose it depends on the person.
> I got social anxiety by being exposed to social situations-- so why would more exposure help me? I'm exposed everyday. I force myself to go to school, to the shops, ring people on the phone, etc. It doesn't help. It makes me more anxious, if anything.
> If you are going to do it, I'd say start with little things first, then progress upwards from there.


simply living life is NOT exposure therapy that is why it doesn't make sense to you


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## lokor (Dec 21, 2011)

There is some cognitive work that needs to be done in addition to the exposure therapy, because SA is not a simple phobia like arachnophobia. The first time I learned about the ideas behind the cognitive aspect it was a major consciousness expanding experience for me.

You need to start off with the small exposures first. And read cognitive therapy books.


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## paulyD (Feb 16, 2011)

MEKG said:


> So far, everything I have done regarding exposure therapy has backfired pretty bad, and has made things worse a lot of the time. Has it helped anyone? I don't know if I should dive into the deep end and try doing the worst things first, or slowly progress up the ladder. Do things I feel a little anxiety about, and then go up as I cross each thing off the list. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed when I flood myself with crazy situations.
> 
> For example, I ended up getting a job in a very social environement, and I found I couldn't focus on the small victories during the day because there were so many big fears to focus on the whole time. Where as, when I'm just walking on the street and someone smiles at me or gives a quick "hello" as they pass, it makes me feel amazing. Do you think it'd work if I focused on doing some of these smaller things, rather than one big huge life changing event?


definately start small. absolutely no doubt about it.

success breeds success. i count myself as quite a confident person, for somebody with SA, and i'm extremely optimistic and beleive in myself but even i have suffered a bit of trauma by trying things that are too big too soon. it's so important to start off at a realistic level and build up your confidence step by step. it's the only way that works

if you look at professional boxers they don't fight the likes of manny paquioa or floyd mayweather in their 1st fights. they build up to that level of opponent over many years and many fights. it's the same in life.


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## paulyD (Feb 16, 2011)

The Awkward One said:


> Load of bullsh*t to me. Though, I suppose it depends on the person.
> I got social anxiety by being exposed to social situations-- so why would more exposure help me? I'm exposed everyday. I force myself to go to school, to the shops, ring people on the phone, etc. It doesn't help. It makes me more anxious, if anything.
> If you are going to do it, I'd say start with little things first, then progress upwards from there.


the fact is though that if you don't use exposure therapy you'll NEVER get better. if you keep avoiding the things you fear then you will be afraid until the day that you die

you can't overcome social anxiety without exposure therapy. even if you somehow magically erased your fear you still wouldn't know that it was erased until you exposed yourself to the situation that you used to fear


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## PeachyAlice (Feb 8, 2012)

It's the only thing that has helped me. Forcing myself out there more and more. For example I got rid of my phobia of making phone calls by working at a callcenter. Ofc the first weeks are AWFUL, but it gets better.


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## paulyD (Feb 16, 2011)

i have found exposure therapy to work a lot of the time. there are certain situations that i would avoid because there were bad things that i was certain would happen if i exposed myself to those situations. but after exposing myself to those situaions i was pleasently suprised by what happend

i used to beleive that people were really unfriendly and unwelcoming and so i stayed away from people. but after exposure myself more and more to groups situations i now know for ceratin that most people are nice, most people are friendly


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## bubble (Oct 19, 2011)

I think the answer is in your display picture...


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## MachineSupremacist (Jun 9, 2012)

I certainly got a lot better once I got a job and got out of the house. Talking to idiot customers lets me practice in a setting that doesn't really "matter" where I can relax.


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## A SAD Finn (Sep 16, 2007)

MachineSupremacist said:


> I certainly got a lot better once I got a job and got out of the house. Talking to idiot customers lets me practice in a setting that doesn't really "matter" where I can relax.


That's my experience too. Talking to drunken idiot customers is good practice for my assertiveness skills.


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## odd_one_out (Aug 22, 2006)

The evidence-based protocol for SAD involves gradual exposure where a hierarchy of social fears to work on is listed, from low to high difficulty. The exposures should also be as specific as possible such that the outcome can be measured objectively each time.


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## wxolue (Nov 26, 2008)

I've had a pretty easy life (no serious family problems, upper middle class, no health problems besides anxiety), so take this with a grain of salt, but forcing myself into some of the exposure exercises I did during group therapy a year ago was hands down the hardest thing I've ever done. It took the most willpower.

With that said, I have never gotten over anxiety so quickly. I've been improving since then, and I was before therapy, but at a slower rate. I couldn't believe how quickly I was getting over different parts of my anxiety. It didn't cure me, but it slingshotted me forward as far as progress goes.

Keep in mind that I was on d-cycloserine as part of a study, which is supposed to increase the speed at which exposure therapy works.

Was it worth it? Yea. The first time is the hardest because you don't know what to expect. You've always done whatever you could to subdue or ignore or blunt or avoid your anxiety in the past. Trying to simply experience it is so radically different, its hard to explain until you've really sat in an exposure exercise with no avoidance techniques; just experiencing the rise and fall of your adrenaline levels.


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## brdoc1 (Aug 5, 2012)

*Exposure Therapy -- Ugh!*



MEKG said:


> So far, everything I have done regarding exposure therapy has backfired pretty bad, and has made things worse a lot of the time. Has it helped anyone? I don't know if I should dive into the deep end and try doing the worst things first, or slowly progress up the ladder. Do things I feel a little anxiety about, and then go up as I cross each thing off the list. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed when I flood myself with crazy situations.
> 
> For example, I ended up getting a job in a very social environement, and I found I couldn't focus on the small victories during the day because there were so many big fears to focus on the whole time. Where as, when I'm just walking on the street and someone smiles at me or gives a quick "hello" as they pass, it makes me feel amazing. Do you think it'd work if I focused on doing some of these smaller things, rather than one big huge life changing event?


As a therapist who very often sees vets who are fed up with the mental health care at the V.A., I can state with grim confidence that exposure therapy is a disaster. It's one of those therapies that appears to make sense when described, but is capable of making conditions like PTSD progressively worse.

Young people come to my office very often who are more freaked out now than they were when they returned stateside, as a result of exposure therapy.

I wouldn't even dream of putting these people through the hell they have experienced, with the expectation that they will habituate to it. It's just inhumane!

At my practice, Delray Holistic Therapy, just one or two pleasant, relaxing hypnotherapy sessions is almost always successful in eliminating the results of all sorts of trauma forever. Think about it. Which approach sounds more sensible? All it takes is to suggest to clients that the stimuli that frighten them are in fact harmless and benign. It really is that simple.


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## mindset (Dec 29, 2012)

brdoc1 said:


> As a therapist who very often sees vets who are fed up with the mental health care at the V.A., I can state with grim confidence that exposure therapy is a disaster. It's one of those therapies that appears to make sense when described, but is capable of making conditions like PTSD progressively worse.
> 
> Young people come to my office very often who are more freaked out now than they were when they returned stateside, as a result of exposure therapy.
> 
> ...


Nice advertising. Don't listen to people that only have 1 post count.


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