# Does non-graded exposure therapy work if you are persistent?



## X33 (Feb 13, 2005)

?


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## yeah_yeah_yeah (Mar 27, 2007)

It depends on you. Because of the phenomena of internal attention, post-event processing and use of safety behaviours in SA, you can use exposure until youre blue in the face and still have SA. You still go into the situation with the same automatic response, which have the effect of blocking out any new (anxiety breaking) information that you might collect at the subconscious level.

Exposure therapy has become popularised by many of the dating sites online. This will see dudes approaching women until they are over it. However, a non SA sufferer will be able to pick up this new inforamtion and so overcome the anxiety more easily. In this case his anxiety would be termed shyness.

If you have full-blown SA, it is far less likely that exposure will work. Its pretty much kill or cure and this is the entire reason that the new, more graded approach, to CBT for SA was developed.

This approach is encapsulated in the book "Overcoming Social Anxiety and Shyness" by Gillian Butler. In this Forum, AndyLT is making a diary of his experiences working with the book. The thread is called My Therapy Diary.


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## X33 (Feb 13, 2005)

Sorry for the late response, I completely forgot about this thread.

Since making the original post, i came across the concept of "flooding" online. It is a type of exposure therapy, in which if you stick to it, you get results quicker than the graded version. So that is good. Only problem is, there is a high dropout rate because it is much more nerve wracking and also most social situations are brief. You, apparently, need prolonged exposure before your body gets used to the situation. 

I did read through AndyLT's thread and found it interesting. I am considering my options atm.


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## tomcoldaba (Jul 1, 2007)

Flooding may actually lead to avoidance IMO. If you have a bad experience with flooding, you may avoid those situations. Prolonged exposure on the other hand allows you to get used to the feared situation. Gradually, you may want to increase your exposure until you suffer no fear from a social situation.


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