Experiences of CBT

[baker18]

Hi everyone,

I've been lurking on this forum for a while now trying to summon up the courage to say something. I've had social anxiety for as long as I can remember, but have only sought help in recent years as my work, home life, relationships etc have become increasingly unmanageable. I've been having CBT since February through the NHS and have felt very little, if any, impact/improvement. This week I started a group CBT course, but I just felt it was all the same content I'd already covered in my 1:1 sessions.

I totally understand that there's no magic fix or solution here and I don't expect things to get better overnight, but I just don't know how long realistically I can expect my work to support me when I just feel like I'm doing such a poor job and letting everyone down all the time. I guess I just thought after 6 months of treatment I might feel I was making some sort of progress.

I'm just interested to know other's experiences of CBT? I see so many people saying its helped them... for anyone else did it also take some time to have any positive effect? I just feel quite disheartened at the moment and I don't really know what other options I have.

Thanks for reading my essay!

[Utopia]

Well if you have SA then some antidepressants have also been shown to help on average but a GP would decide if it makes sense for you. Also, I know things like Diazepam can make it more manageable the first time you need to do something new but they are very addictive in some people.

You can use the groups as like exposure therapy also. Simply exposing yourself to a feared situation and learning from experience is the best thing you can do. I find I still have some symptoms of anxiety (much more manageable now) with things, but not with repeated exposure to the same situation, and quite frankly, I just don't genuinely care much what others think about me anymore, and that helped. Don't let people make you feel anxious, it isn't something to fear.

Remember, no-one comes out of the womb knowing everything, we all have to learn how to behave, and what to do in certain situations with regards to what is acceptable or not and so we need to be adept and adapting to things on the fly and the way to do that is through exposure.

[hollowone]

What specific social situations do you find most challenging?
What types of conversations do you find challenging?
Do you feel self-conscious? If so what about?

That's what the CBT system should be seeking to answer.

Hopefully a lot of the experiences talked about here resonates with your situation.

Yeah, I've felt the same about CBT in the past, like the person has never experienced being severely shy/socially-anxious and is reading from a textbook.

You've done the right thing and spoken out. It takes courage to do that, go from lurking to posting. Give yourself a pat on the back.

[Dougella]

CBT is not as helpful for some for some people as others, although it's always good to give it a go and see what you can get out of it.

You could also look into ACT (acceptance and commitment therapy) which some people find more suited to them. There's a very good book called The Happiness Trap which you might want to have a look at.

You could also look into seeing a private therapist who specialises in different approaches than CBT, if you can afford it ofcourse.

[limey123]

Personally, I found CBT rather helpful, but it doesn't work for everyone, as Dougella rightly said. I'm glad I did it, anyway.

[Selkie]

I think that probably what makes CBT 'work,' in a very simple way, is when you can believe alternative thoughts, and when you feel like you get at least slightly positive results from behavioural experiments.

CBT therapists are often taught that people with social anxiety misread social situations, as a result of self-focus. This can be very frustrating if actually you are hypervigilant, or are not misreading things but the therapist assumes you must be.

I once filled in an experimental prediction sheet before a social event. It was full of people I knew , but not well, and I also knew from experience that they generally weren't that interested in talking to me. So I predicted only two of them would talk to me (ok I know that's better than none). I went to the event, and that was exactly what happened! With situations like that, CBT won't help. Also, I now think that a CBT therapist should actually have been encouraging me to behave differently - like suggesting I should initiate conversations - rather than just turning up with the expectation that something would be different to my past experiences.

[Kipper]

Well, I had CBT for Social Anxiety Disorder from October last year until the end of January. It helped me in that it made me think about the thought processes that run through my brain when confronted by another person/ people and how that then leads to the unpleasant physical feelings. We also did some physical relaxation exercises too.

However I am still experiencing issues relating to fear of others and fear/ phobia of looking at my reflection in mirrors and have now been placed on a waiting list for a form of psychotherapy. I think CBT can work quite well for those whose condition is mild to moderate but anything beyond that may need something else. But CBT is certainly a good place to start.