do you need therapy to recover completely

[Freedom2010]

I normally don't post on forums dealing with my problems. I like to post on threads dealing with my hobbies, but here goes:

I'm just wondering if you need therapy to recover completely. I am done with being so shy. I can't live my life like this anymore. I'm not really depressed or anything, but I just feel like I am missing out on SO much.

Is social anxiety a problem where you need therapy to recover? I've been down the threapy route before and it didn't go over so well. I live in a small town and most of the threapists I've seen have no idea what they are talking about.

I've tried tackling this problem on my own (and have even made one of those heirarchy things and questioned some of my negative beliefs) but every time I get to something that is too hard, I just panic and stop.

I want this time to be different. I want to change. Has anyone had sucess (or is having sucess) recovering on their own?

P.S. Do you find this long post funny from someone who barely talks in real life except around family members? Haha. I just thought that was ironic.

[Freedom2010]

bump

[SickJoke]

No, you don't need therapy, but you do need to learn how to destroy the old negative beliefs that cause SA. I had SA my entire life until about 6 months ago. How did I overcome it? Lots and lots of research into SA, psychology, and biology, particularly neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), evolutionary psychology, and every single self-help book and audio book I could get my hands on, including audio CBT. I'm in the process of posting some of the most valuable insights that I've come across, hopefully it will help.

[yakubu]

Originally Posted by Freedom2010

I normally don't post on forums dealing with my problems. I like to post on threads dealing with my hobbies, but here goes:

I'm just wondering if you need therapy to recover completely. I am done with being so shy. I can't live my life like this anymore. I'm not really depressed or anything, but I just feel like I am missing out on SO much.

Is social anxiety a problem where you need therapy to recover? I've been down the threapy route before and it didn't go over so well. I live in a small town and most of the threapists I've seen have no idea what they are talking about.

I've tried tackling this problem on my own (and have even made one of those heirarchy things and questioned some of my negative beliefs) but every time I get to something that is too hard, I just panic and stop.

I want this time to be different. I want to change. Has anyone had sucess (or is having sucess) recovering on their own?

P.S. Do you find this long post funny from someone who barely talks in real life except around family members? Haha. I just thought that was ironic.

no

sa is a behavioural problem that is caused by your thoughts therefore to cure it at the root involves changing your thoughts and your behasviour

do you need therapy in order to change thoughts and behaviour ? NO

have a look for a thread i made last week titled ''sick of sa want it gone forever , if so read on'' - this is a plan you can follow yourself without therapy. aj replied with a link to the plan so just stroll down to aj's reply and click on the link

ive been using plan since last year and its working. in the past i seen about 6 different therapists over the years and none of it worked

[LonelyHeart87]

Your post and questions are entirely understandable, it's a shame you don't express what you think or feel more often to whomever you wish to share them with, be it family members or anyone else for that matter.

On another note, I've been to two different psychologists since my SA began. The first one helped tremendously. The second one certainly didn't hurt. She allowed me to open up, and got me moving. At the moment though, I'm no longer seeing anyone but have decided to try and resolve everything on my own, and through help from you and everyone else on this site.

Bottom line, it all depends on how confident you are in your ability to handle things on your own. It gets rough and sometimes I really wish I could come in and talk about all my problems for an hour and leave it there, but I'm choosing to be rationale about my life and everything in it, and change it single-handily. That's not to say that having a psychologist simultaneously will harm anything. It all depends on you as a person, and how strong you are right now.

If you do in fact want to try seeking a psychologist, take your time searching for one that satisfies you, and whom you are comfortable with. Your have a right to be as choosy as you like, as you are about to share some very private details of your life and yourself with him/her. Perhaps try a nearby town, or even a few towns away. If the psychologist can really help you, then it would be worth the drive. Either way, good luck to you! And keep posting

[screwjack]

It depends on the person, saying definitively that therapy or not is required is dumb. This is a mental illness we are talking about here so everyone will have different levels. I wouldn't let anyone tell me whether I need therapy one way or the other. Take a long honest look at your life and search deep inside yourself to see if you do need therapy or not.

[shadowsandlight]

Do you find this long post funny from someone who barely talks in real life except around family members?

I'm the same way - far more quiet when it comes to speaking, but prone to wordiness when writing (obviously).

I look at therapy as a tool in the toolbox for working on my issues. I used to fight the idea of going to therapy as I had already studied a lot of psychology and had a lot of insight into my mind. I had someone close to me, that knew of my issues, that had been through therapy himself, suggest that I go and I was insulted, like he was suggesting I was weak-minded, as I didn't understand what it was really about.

But I finally did go, and how I found it helpful is having an impartial professional listen to what I was thinking and offer back alternative ways of looking at the situation. It also provided a once-a-week check-in that kept me encouraged on the path to recovery. Sometimes, that is what one needs as the self-help route can become tiresome and discouraging at times, not to mention there is all kinds of advice being tossed around as what worked for someone else or what works in theory, which might not be applicable to your particular issues. I kind of look at it like having a personal trainer - you can work out on your own and read sites on exercise, but a professional at your side can really be the edge you need to make significant progress.

There are also different kinds of therapy, and different approaches to solve the same problem. Every therapist also has his/her own personality and style. So if one attempt doesn't work, trying a different approach and/or therapist might. Just like meds, it can be trial and error - and just like meds, you might not find it helpful at all to your particular situation.

To sum up, therapy is not an absolute necessity, just another tool in the box, like meds, like books and audio, like this site. Some may work better than others, and it's all about what works for YOU.