# Don't Believe The Lie - Please.



## wxfdswxc2 (Mar 27, 2015)

*When people give you advice, be honest with yourself and ask if they're giving you a real-life tip, or just giving you a safety behavior.*

There's so much misinformation about Social Anxiety out there on the internet, in books, and in the conversations with the very people you confide in. It's not their fault entirely; they're just spitting out the information they've been told. They end up handing it down to you, and it's making _YOUR_ life a living hell. And mine.

Facing your fears head-on and deliberately is no easy task; I struggle with it myself. But it especially doesn't help when people feed you a lie and you buy into it. Check out the following video.






As you can see, people like her are feeding you the perfect techniques... for *avoidance* behavior. These are all of the canned safety behaviors lined up, to a T. These are the things that we all do, here on Social Anxiety Support, and it's obviously not working. If you've been following my train of thought, facing your fears head-on is entirely contradictory to burying your head in a phone, planning an escape route, or breathing deeply in an attempt to calm your fears. It's only going to make things worse.

I know most long threads don't go over well here, but I'm not out for validation. I want the truth exposed, and I want us all to be free.

With love,

-*Wxfdswxc2*


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## Kodi (Jul 9, 2015)

What would you suggest we do, then?


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## wxfdswxc2 (Mar 27, 2015)

Face your fears head-on. Don't plan on an escape route. Do not pull out your phone. Engage in the scenario, fully, no matter how terrifying it is.

I know - it's not magic. I bet you were expecting magic. But the misinformation has got to stop.


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## Kodi (Jul 9, 2015)

wxfdswxc2 said:


> Face your fears head-on. Don't plan on an escape route. Do not pull out your phone. Engage in the scenario, fully, no matter how terrifying it is.
> 
> I know - it's not magic. I bet you were expecting magic. But the misinformation has got to stop.


Well, of course that would work but to muster up the courage to actually do this... and not have a panic attack in the process seems almost impossible. Don't get me wrong, I would absolutely love to talk to the cute girl cashiering for the hour, but last time I tried that I nearly passed out


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## ScorchedEarth (Jul 12, 2014)

What works for you does not necessarily work for everyone or anyone else.


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## wxfdswxc2 (Mar 27, 2015)

The terrifying part is that you have to just do it, panic attacks or not. I'm figuring this out the hard way. Some say it gets easier, while others say you just get used to it. No matter what, though, there is no shortcut.


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## wxfdswxc2 (Mar 27, 2015)

LawfulStupid said:


> What works for you does not necessarily work for everyone or anyone else.


Thank you. This is a very good point.

Some people would rather take medication. If you're one of those people, more power to you.


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## wxfdswxc2 (Mar 27, 2015)

If I may backpedal for a second, my original post isn't an attempt to cure anybody. That kind of thing doesn't even exist. You can live your life without a magic sleeping pill.

I do want to call out some blatant misinformation, though. People like Amy Pohler (sp?) are totally misinformed, and due to their status they're able to spread their misinformation like wildfire. It's not cool. That's all.


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## NoahValentine (Jul 8, 2015)

Easier say than done , i've already known but still fall at it


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## wxfdswxc2 (Mar 27, 2015)

NoahValentine said:


> Easier say than done , i've already known but still fall at it


You don't have to believe the lie(s).

As for facing your fears head-on, you don't have to. Not everybody will decide to do so, and this thread isn't even really trying to convince anybody to do so.

But for those of us who do, beware of the pitfalls. They're everywhere.


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