Misc What can I take to help me with social anxiety?

[ErgicMergic]

Exposure therapy? Talk to random people in line, at the shops, at the coffee shop, at the bus stops.

Do it in small increments: small talk about the weather or something like that first, and with more an more interactions, progress from there.

Who cares if you end up being awkward, you'll almost literally never see them again if you live in a mid-sized city.

 

[Burnt Offerings]

It's too bad that kratom didn't work for you...in my experience, it's one of the best natural anxiolytics out there. Very effective anti-anxiety drug (for me personally)

 

[d1ahp]

I feel like a lot of people simply don't want to give Cognitive Behavioral Therapy a chance because it might mean that they might have to let go of some kind of a comfort zone, give up some meds, or they'll actually get help and won't be receiving attention they're currently receiving because of their problem.

I know that sounds twisted, but people do this. I'm not saying that OP is doing any of these, I'm just making an observation and people's distrust towards something that is there to fix the problem with the power of your brain.

Theoretically, the only way to teach your brain to control the anxiety is to acknowledge it(hello darkness, my old friend), accept that it'll be here until it leaves(don't try to run from it or pray it away) and keep doing(if you're changing oil in your car, keep working on it) whatever you were doing when it began.

This way, you slowly recondition your brain to simply ignore anxiety. This is how I got over crippling panic attacks. The kind that would have me hiding in the closet or running out of the house to avoid others.

It's hard to retrain a brain response when you're using certain(maybe all? not in my case) psychotropic medications like benzos, d-amps, opiates or any drug that relies on dopamine to make you feel better, like Wellbutrin. These meds would impair my progress as I'd feel amazingly good while they're active, but everything learned would dissipate as they did too.

As much as I thought I hated SSRIs it was Lexapro that saved my life. It allowed me, without feeling unnaturally/unreasonably good, to step back and collect my thoughts. Then eventually I started practicing those cheesy steps I mentioned above. Nowadays, sometimes I won't notice a panic attack coming on. I'll realize I'm having one when I'm in the middle of something. From then on, I'll remind myself that it's just a panic attack and keep doing what I was doing before it began.

If you saw me the way my SO saw me during my worst, you'd laugh at those little steps.

 

[sekio]

 

[Tinker55]

"Social anxiety" is so pervasive that it's a variant of "normal" or so I'm told. There's really no need to medicate unless it's damaging your life. I found SSRIs a help with depression but talk therapy is more useful.

 

[spacejunk]

^ i've never studied psychology or psychiatry, but i certainly would agree with the notion that social anxiety is a "normal" part of the human condition, and is therefore not something that best treated with medication.

I have had more than my fair share of time as a patient in cognitive behavioural therapy, and have found it incredibly helpful. Much moreso than drugs or medications.
It is amazing how much you can learn - and teach yourself - to better cope with the world around you - with these kinds of therapies. With the right therapist, and the right approach (from the patient) it can be very powerful.

 

[d1ahp]

^ i've never studied psychology or psychiatry, but i certainly would agree with the notion that social anxiety is a "normal" part of the human condition, and is therefore not something that best treated with medication.

It is normal to have social anxiety, it reminds you that you're human and you have feelings and ambitions. Unless your social anxiety makes you unable to socialize or be part of society. If the latter is the case, acute and some long term medicine isn't a bad thing. It's just that most people grab that acute basis only medicine and turn it into a long term treatment. Once they have their little magic pills, stepping out of their comfort zone and doing something like CBT(which will take away their little magic pills) sounds far too unappealing to them.

I have had more than my fair share of time as a patient in cognitive behavioural therapy, and have found it incredibly helpful. Much moreso than drugs or medications.

When I dealt with the worst of my panic attacks, Lexapro and Klonopin saved my life.

I'm talking about panic attacks, though. Not "I'm too nervous to talk to this girl because I'll blush and stutter" anxiety. The nature of my panic attacks eventually turned me into a hermit that had a hard time purchasing e-juice from a vape shop because I was so afraid of human interaction.

Klonopin allowed me to completely turn the anxiety attack off when I had it and I really needed this at that point because I was beginning to truly believe that I'm going crazy and there's no hope for me. The Lexapro allowed to eventually think clearly and make good decisions. Because Lexapro made me stable, I soon started realizing that taking Klonopin in order to just turn the panic off is counter productive. I was teaching my brain to look for an escape instead of a positive coping mechanism.

I stumbled onto a self help book which gave advice on how to deal with real over the top panic attacks. He also spoke about the types of panic attacks out there. Mine was based on the thought of me losing my mind and doing something crazy. I'm not going to recite the book verbatim but they were simple steps along the lines of: acknowledge your anxiety attack coming on, allow it to be there for as long as it's going to be there without trying to run away from it, keep doing what you were doing before the anxiety began and wait until you're on the other side. Following these steps eventually made my brain not notice panic attacks at all or notice them and know that it'll be over soon which automatically would put me at ease.

I never thought something like those little steps combined with Lexapro(I thought SSRIs were for the weak) and Klonopin(which I thought of as strictly get high tool) would save my life.

I took Klonopin as needed for 3 months. I'd skip days, have days where I took less than prescribed and have days when I took more than prescribed. I'm not talking about downing half a bottle of your monthly supply, I'm talking about taking 1mg instead of the prescribed .5mg. I came off the Klonopin with little tapering and did experience discomfort for about 4 days. I'd have one glass of wine in the evening after work for those 4 days because I knew that alcohol was GABAergic and it'd help me relax a little.

About 3 months after getting off Klonopin, I took a 3 week taper off my 20mg Lexapro dose. This was also a little rough but in the most peculiar ways. I'd have crazy dreams or closed eye hallucinations. I'd see clear pictures of people in my head; some of them have died and some were alive. I know I sound like tinfoil hat guy when I say that but Lexapro withdrawal was the weirdest thing I've ever experienced.

It's been 2 years or so since I took my last Lexapro. I still get panic attacks occasionally, but I'll just do the steps and be good. It's been a very long time since an anxiety attack knocked me off my feet.

It is amazing how much you can learn - and teach yourself - to better cope with the world around you - with these kinds of therapies. With the right therapist, and the right approach (from the patient) it can be very powerful.

Can you please share some of the techniques that you were taught by your therapist? I so wish I had the resources for CBT when I was at my worst.

I do believe that CBT might not work for like 5% of the population. But most of the time, when I hear/read about/see someone avoiding Cognitive Therapy I feel like they're either too attached to their medicine or don't actually want to get help.

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These days, my anxieties are about paying bills, making my loyal wife who stoop by me every inch of the way happy and providing for those who can't provide for themselves.

 

[spacejunk]

Can you please share some of the techniques that you were taught by your therapist? I so wish I had the resources for CBT when I was at my worst.

A lot of the work i've done has been around trauma and addiction, so i'm not sure exactly how applicable anything i could suggest would be.
Most of what i found most helpful was to simply talk through the things that caused me anxiety/stress/insomnia/cravings (depending on the situation and the symptoms) and simply explain what was happening - and my thoughts and feelings - to my counsellor - and have them respond to what i said.
For example, if i were to say "i had an incident at work, these things happened (elaborating) and it has caused x, y and z emotional/physical responses to the stressful stimuli" - the counsellor would tend respond to whatever stood out about the statement i'd just made - not only what happened, but how i explained it - as well as any relevant points which may indicate how i am responding to such things.
By that i mean, if i said "i got fired, i had a panic attack - now i can't sleep and i've lost all hope", the counsellor would explore what happened, but also why i jumped to such negative conclusions.
On the other hand, if i said "i got fired, i had a panic attack - now i can't sleep, but it's not all bad, because i hated the job, got paid out for my leave entitlements, so i have this plan to (...etc etc) - we would discuss how it is normal, healthy and understandable to feel anxiety in what is a stressful life event.

So in terms of therapy, it is actually the ability to self-analyse my emotional and conscious responses to things that has been one of the most helpful parts of it - because i have learned a series of coping strategies, rather than reaching for the benzos or opiates when times are tough.

When times are really tough, and i find anxiety is getting in the way of being able to function properly, i've been shown a bunch of different grounding exercises, which often consist of breathing techniques that make you aware of your body, draw your thoughts out of your head momentarily, and give a bit of relief from the feelings of panic and fear.
Mindfulness, essentually.

A classic one of these is to time one minute (by setting a digital alarm or looking at the second hand of a clock) - and count how many times you breathe in that minute. Count each breath - in and out - as 1 breath.
It only takes a minute, but i find it can be a really effective way of reining-in the racing thoughts that i tend to get when i'm anxious.

I never really experienced anxiety as i was growing up, so when it appeared in my life around my mid-20s, i had not developed any skills to help cope with it.
Therapy was really helpful though - much more than drugs have ever been (for me), and much more than i expected.
I understand and appreciate that drugs are useful in some situations, but when someone says "please recommend a drug" for something like that, i tend to think "maybe you should try a few other things first".

 

[d1ahp]

For some reason when I try to edit my post, it completely disappears when it goes to the actual edit screen.

Have you tried Nootropics?

These smart drugs help your cognitive abilities. They give calm stimulation and enhanced thought process. Though, I can't even call it stimulation. It's as if your brain processes things not only quicker but smarter. Resulting in less anxiety and more confidence.

Do some research on Nootropics, find the one you think will work best, try it out and go from there.

I want to list some Nootropics that really shouldn't be referred to as Nootropics because they're not. Most vendors have gotten pretty good at classifying what's what, but some sellers/buyers still fail to note the difference.

• Phenibut: This, for sure, is not a smart drug/Nootropic. It's a Gabapentinoid substance very close in structure to Pregabalin and Gabapentin. It works extremely well to calm anxiety but carries an extreme risk of addiction. Withdrawals from which can be safely equated to the hell of Benzodiazepine withdrawals.
• Tianeptine: Even though this drug affects some of the same regions of your brain Nootropics are praised for affecting, it is far more dangerous than something like Piracetam. Tianeptine has great potential for abuse of the opioid kind. A person with anxiety issues and a history of substance abuse is very like to use Tianeptine in ways it was not intended to be used, causing great harm to self and those around you. Tianeptine withdrawals are reported by some to be even more harsh than traditional opiate withdrawals because you're detoxing off a Tricyclic Antidepressant and an Opiate at the same time. Many report Suicidal Ideation as a symptom of withdrawal. Tianeptine seems to be a great drug if used as prescribed.
• Prolintane: This a traditional stimulant - like substance. It is structurally similar to Propylhexedrine, which is very similar to Amphetamines. This one is very likely to be misused. For a person with anxiety, a stimulant very quickly loses its positive effects and you get flooded with the negative ones.
• Amfonelic Acid: This is a pretty popular/interesting substance. It seems to be stronger than Methylphenidate and Dextroamphetamine as a dopaminergic and a stimulant. Once again, for people with anxiety issues, stimulants are contraindicated.

I'm sure there are other substances that shouldn't be included with Nootropics.

 

[d1ahp]

I never really experienced anxiety as i was growing up, so when it appeared in my life around my mid-20s, i had not developed any skills to help cope with it.
Therapy was really helpful though - much more than drugs have ever been (for me), and much more than i expected.
I understand and appreciate that drugs are useful in some situations, but when someone says "please recommend a drug" for something like that, i tend to think "maybe you should try a few other things first".

Thanks for writing that out.

I have somewhat of a similar story. When I finally started living on my own, working and taking care of things by myself, stress completely wiped me out.

At 23, I went back to opiates after 3 years of sobriety.

About a year into my use I had all that crazy anxiety and then 2 years later got diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism. Which puts me where I am now, at 26.

I'm still addicted to opiates, but I finally feel like I have a new lease on life and am on my way to becoming no longer dependent on opiates.

 

[GodandLove]

Try KAVA-KAVA. It's natures valium. I hear it works wonders for people with anxiety disorders.