# RESOURCE: Self-processing - Nuclear Fission for SA



## yeah_yeah_yeah (Mar 27, 2007)

Hello

As part of a sequence of posts I have made about CBT for SA, I thought it was important to write about something that is not very often talked about, but is very important to overcoming SA. I have read a lot of folks on here saying "What do you mean, just go and get exposure?? I've been doing that all my life and I'm STILL ANXIOUS!!". To these folks I would like to say - you are not alone and there is a very good reasons for it. They are recognized in psychology and are a feature that marks SA out over the other 'anxieties' such as phobias and GAD. They are also the reason why exposure alone has a very hit and miss quality with treating SA.

These things are 'self-processing' (technical name Interoceptive Processing) and Safety behaviours. I will cover safety behaviours in another post, so for now here is a section from 'Treatment of Anxiety Disorders' by Clark and Wells, in the chapter on Social Phobia (SP) / SA, on self-processing:



> [Anxiety is] accompanied by a shift in attention in which the social phobic engages in detailed self-observation and monitoring of sensations, images and a 'felt-sense'. This [self] information is used to make [judgments] about how the social phobic appears to others and how others are evaluating them. To deal with these feelings, the SP will engage in safety behaviours, things that the SP does to prevent the anticipated social humiliation


Examples:

1. Automatic Thoughts: "I'll babble and get my words wrong" *Self-Processing*: Self Conscious: Is aware of own voice and hears self as timid, weak and pathetic. Safety Behaviours: Monitor speech, try to pronounce words properly, rehearse sentences mentally before saying them, speak quickly, ask questions, say little about self.

2. Automatic Thoughts: "What if I get anxious? People will notice and not take me seriously" *Self-Processing*: Self-conscious: Image of self as a bright red gibbering wreck with arms and hands jiggling about.Safety Behaviours: Grip hands together, stiffen arms and legs, look away, ask questions, cover face with hair, wear extra make up.

If those all sounds a little strange, it is because this is the part of SA that is JUST out of consciousness. It has become so automatic for you that you cease to notice it going on. The problem however, is that once you begin to process internally and use safety behaviours, you cease to see the world as it really is and instead it becomes like the pot of water into which a drop of ink is placed - blackened by the feelings you are experiencing. Still unsure? Here is a dialogue between a therapist and a client where the idea of self processing is being explained:

C: I feel uncomfortable in the situation. Like everyone is paying attention to me.
T: So your impression is that everyone is looking at you?
C: Yes, its awful. I feel so self-conscious. I just don't want to be there when I feel like that.
T: What makes you think everyone else is looking?
C: Well I know they are. Its not normal to shake like this is it?
T: How do you know they are looking at you? What is your evidence?
C: Well they must be looking. It must be obvious there's something wrong.
T: Have you ever looked around to see if people are looking at you?
C: No I tend to avoid looking at them. If I saw someone looking that would make it worse.
T: So, if you're not looking at people, how do you know they are paying attention to you?
C: Well it just feels as if I am conspicuous, and people are looking.
T: Okay, so that's an important discovery. What you're saying is that because you feel conspicuous and self-conscious you assume that other people are looking at you. It seems that you are assuming things based on your feelings rather than facts.

*So if you just go into exposure wothout this knowledge, you can actually see the situation as a failure even if it went well - because all of your information comes from inside - instead of the true, outside world. Add to this automatic thoughts and cognitive distortions / attentional biases, and you can see that SA IN FACT FEEDS ITSELF. Its the only anxiety that does this and that is why its tratement is unique.*

Next time you are feeling anxious, pay attention to where your awareness is. Its highly likely that it is 'inside', noting all the sensations. Try to notice any images of yourself that flit through your mind - looking red, stupid or wobbly. These thoughts and images are what fire the SA up even more. If you do not break the loop, your anxiety may spiral until you either get away or you perhaps have a panic attack. _( As a side note - Ever get anxious when you read out loud from a book? The reason it is so intense is because by looking at the book you are TOTALLY reliant on your internal feelings, self image and presumptions about others. Panic city ... Try looking up occasionally!)_

*This element of SA can be overcome by applying Attentional Training*. A little like mindfulness, a full explanation of how it is achieved can be found HERE[url]

To get an idea of the difference in sensations, try this: Put up your right thumb. Concentrate on and become aware of the sensations in your own thumb. Is it warm? Does it seem to pulsate? As you think about it more, does the feeling start to change or grow in any way? Now bring your head up look at something in the room. Maybe your keyboard! See how shiny (or mucky( it is. Where is the "~" key? Where is the "|" key? Now go back to "mentally feeling" your thumb. Can you 'FEEL' the difference between the two? In conversation, people and your environment are the keyboard, and the keys are their words and expressions. You are aiming to stop 'thumbing' whilst talking as far as possible - because it will be any small sensations of anxiety, tension or wobbles in your body you focus on - and just like your thumb, when you do that they will get BIGGER. They will not be noticeable, but the less you remain aware of your environment the more certain you will be that they are noticeable. Outward focus is one of the most powerful anti-anxiety methods I have come across but it is not well known. For maximum effects use it with the other CBT resources I have posted, or even better - find a good book (Gillian Butler's Social Anxiety book is IMO the best).

Remember - this phenomenon is JUST OUTSIDE YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS - but once you are made aware of it you can spot it and manipulate it. This is the real nuclear fission of overcoming SA  But only ONE PART of it.

Ross


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