Social Anxiety Cures and Alternatives
http://www.healthmantra.net/articles/11243/1/Social-Anxiety-Cures-and-Alternatives/Page1.html
Jon Mercer
Discover natural remedies for anxiety and panic attacks. Cure anxiety without harmful side-effects. Free video shows you how. By Jon Mercer
Published on 10/19/2008
Research indicates that social anxiety (sometimes called social phobia) is a growing problem in society. Fortunately, there are cures and alternatives for social anxiety that can help the sufferer enjoy a normal social life, while improving self-image and confidence.
Social anxiety or social phobia is a psychological disorder in which the person suffering from SAD (Social Anxiety Disorder) has an extreme fear of appearing in society. The anxious feelings arise due to the perception that their actions and behavior are under the microscope at all times. This leads to the development of undue self consciousness in the patient in everyday life situations which can cause her/him worry days or even weeks in advance of any social appearance.
Social anxiety cures are designed to alleviate the extreme fear of public appearance and undue feelings of humiliation, and help the individual to function normally at school, work or other regular activities. Curing social anxiety can prevent patients from dropping out of school or leaving a job, as well as preventing alcohol or drug abuse, sinking into suicidal thoughts, and becoming isolated and anti-social.
The goal of any social anxiety cure, first and foremost, is to overcome common anxiety-provoking situations such as talking to strangers or people of authority, meeting new people, making new friends, establishing eye contact, reading or writing in public, eating or drinking in social gatherings, answering a phone call or talking on the phone. Patients undergoing social anxiety treatment learn to evade symptoms and presumptions that trigger substantial distress in real-life social situations.
Many cures for social anxiety include techniques that are directed towards altering distorted thinking patterns and substituting them with positive and healthy thoughts based on rationality. This, in turn, leads to the development of positive emotions and healthy behavioral responses to everyday social situations.
Though Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has been markedly successful as a social anxiety cure, these days, researchers are also looking into alternative methods to treat social anxiety. While CBT is effective for many people, it may not be suitable for everyone. In such situations, other treatments available include:
1. Spiritual healing
2. Emotional Freedom Technique
3. Physical healing
4. Relaxation exercises
All of these different techniques draw upon the inner strength of the SAD patients themselves, and while making them realize that it's never too late to get help, they can also help themselves to a great degree, and change their manner of thinking to see themselves in a new, more positive light. This can result in feelings of increased confidence, and enable the sufferer to interact with people in the society and behave normally in social situations without ever-present feelings of dread and anxiety.
Since maladaptive thoughts are believed to be the root cause of low self esteem and high anxiety in public, stopping disruptive thoughts from occupying the mind is one of the best social anxiety cures. There are several techniques to do this. One of them includes saying the word "stop" out loud every time a disruptive thought occurs. Over time, the thought tends to occur less and less and gradually the knee-jerk negative reaction is overcome completely.
An alternative technique involves giving a label to your thoughts so that you don't process them but just watch them as a spectator and see them flow through your mind and out of it. So, the thought "I am useless" would be perceived as "I am having the thought that I am useless". A person practicing this technique becomes an indifferent spectator of her/his thoughts and slowly learns to effectively dissipate negative feelings until they are no longer bothersome. With time, the patient starts treating instances of anxiety in the same manner. So instead of experiencing anxiety and reacting to it emotionally, a SAD patient will just observe her/his anxiety in an impartial way until it naturally dissipates.
These and other effective social anxiety cures help patients to not only eliminate the fear of public appearances, but also to develop healthy self-esteem and think positively, reducing negative emotions and unnecessary stress.
Social anxiety cures are designed to alleviate the extreme fear of public appearance and undue feelings of humiliation, and help the individual to function normally at school, work or other regular activities. Curing social anxiety can prevent patients from dropping out of school or leaving a job, as well as preventing alcohol or drug abuse, sinking into suicidal thoughts, and becoming isolated and anti-social.
The goal of any social anxiety cure, first and foremost, is to overcome common anxiety-provoking situations such as talking to strangers or people of authority, meeting new people, making new friends, establishing eye contact, reading or writing in public, eating or drinking in social gatherings, answering a phone call or talking on the phone. Patients undergoing social anxiety treatment learn to evade symptoms and presumptions that trigger substantial distress in real-life social situations.
Many cures for social anxiety include techniques that are directed towards altering distorted thinking patterns and substituting them with positive and healthy thoughts based on rationality. This, in turn, leads to the development of positive emotions and healthy behavioral responses to everyday social situations.
Though Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has been markedly successful as a social anxiety cure, these days, researchers are also looking into alternative methods to treat social anxiety. While CBT is effective for many people, it may not be suitable for everyone. In such situations, other treatments available include:
1. Spiritual healing
2. Emotional Freedom Technique
3. Physical healing
4. Relaxation exercises
All of these different techniques draw upon the inner strength of the SAD patients themselves, and while making them realize that it's never too late to get help, they can also help themselves to a great degree, and change their manner of thinking to see themselves in a new, more positive light. This can result in feelings of increased confidence, and enable the sufferer to interact with people in the society and behave normally in social situations without ever-present feelings of dread and anxiety.
Since maladaptive thoughts are believed to be the root cause of low self esteem and high anxiety in public, stopping disruptive thoughts from occupying the mind is one of the best social anxiety cures. There are several techniques to do this. One of them includes saying the word "stop" out loud every time a disruptive thought occurs. Over time, the thought tends to occur less and less and gradually the knee-jerk negative reaction is overcome completely.
An alternative technique involves giving a label to your thoughts so that you don't process them but just watch them as a spectator and see them flow through your mind and out of it. So, the thought "I am useless" would be perceived as "I am having the thought that I am useless". A person practicing this technique becomes an indifferent spectator of her/his thoughts and slowly learns to effectively dissipate negative feelings until they are no longer bothersome. With time, the patient starts treating instances of anxiety in the same manner. So instead of experiencing anxiety and reacting to it emotionally, a SAD patient will just observe her/his anxiety in an impartial way until it naturally dissipates.
These and other effective social anxiety cures help patients to not only eliminate the fear of public appearances, but also to develop healthy self-esteem and think positively, reducing negative emotions and unnecessary stress.