BBC radio show The Daily Bacon recently featured an interview with sports psychiatrist Dr Steve Peters about his new book ‘The Chimp Paradox’.

Dr Peters has helped the British Olympic Cycling Team to improve their mental processes and has worked with hospital patients suffering from depression and other mental health issues for 20 years. So when he shares his insights on how you can improve your thought processes and quality of life, you tend to listen.

You can listen to the podcast by clicking here (or right clicking and downloading), and then fast forwarding to 20 mins 40 seconds (after an interview with Simon Mayo). The reason I’m writing about this is because of the parallels between what he describes as the ‘chimp’ part of the brain and the unhelpful, negative and irrational thoughts that cause social anxiety.

It’s the chimp that causes impulsive and inaccurate thoughts and reactions

Dr Peters describes the brain (based on a simplification of clinical research) as having three parts:

1)      The human front – our rational thoughts and how we’d like to feel and behave
2)      The chimp – our irrational thoughts that cause us to think and behave in an unhelpful manner i.e. feel anxious in social situations
3)       The computer – all the knowledge and experience we’ve accumulated over our lives

It’s the chimp part that causes us to react impulsively to situations before our rational part kicks in. And research shows that social anxiety is caused by irrational and unhelpful thoughts that are rooted in our fight or flee mechanism. So to reduce your anxiety, you need to be able to counter the chimp part of your brain.

Dr Peters doesn’t go into details on how you can do this on the podcast, other than that his model incorporates elements of cognitive behavioural therapy. I haven’t read the book (I managed to beat my social anxiety a few years ago through a combination of CBT, exercise, living a more active lifestyle and taking up social hobbies which involved interaction with other people), but it gets a five star rating based on 39 reviews on Amazon. You can find out more by clicking here (yes, it’s an affiliate link, but I only recommend products I genuinely believe cam help you).

The podcast also features a clip of former England rugby international player Brian Moore (skip to 30 mins 50 seconds) talking about his inner golumn, which used to cause him to suffer from negative thoughts but it’s a voice he’s now learned to ignore.

‘Don’t engage your inner golumn on a long, fruitless discussion you can never win’

When I first started on my journey to beat social anxiety I had no idea it was even a treatable condition until I started researching it on the web (and when I visited a doctor they just put me straight on medication!).

But there seems to be a growing understanding amongst psychologists, psychiatrists and other mental health professionals on the fact that its inaccurate, unhelpful and irrational thoughts that cause issues like social anxiety disorder, and as such they need to be challenged or simply ignored.

If you suffer from social anxiety disorder, simple everyday activities, such as going to the shops or standing on a crowded bus, can seem daunting. Worrying about what other people think of you and if something bad will happen blights the lives of millions every day.

Thankfully, I learned to overcome my anxiety through learning more about the mental triggers and the underlying causes. I created this website to share what worked for me in the hope that it can help others overcome their social anxiety disorder (and without medication!) and live a happier, more fulfilled life free from the fear of strangers.

I’m guessing you arrived here whilst hunting for info on social anxiety disorder. Answers to questions like ‘Why does it happen to me?’, ‘Why do I feel afraid of people I don’t even know, am I crazy?’ and, most importantly, ‘What can I do about it?’.

The reason why I know this is because I did exactly the same thing myself a few years ago.

Social anxiety disorder had put a dark cloud over my life since my teenage years.

Simple everyday things, like catching a bus, walking around the shops or going out to meet friends, were a struggle because of overpowering feelings of nervousness, panic and fear over who I might meet or what might happen .

To combat the symptoms I used to ‘self medicate’ to get through social situations. But this just made me feel ten times worse later on.

Eventually my life reached a point where I had a simple choice – continue suffering in silence and simply coping day to day, or do something about it.

So off I went to see my doctor for advice on what I should do.

Unfortunately, as has happened to many people suffering from social anxiety disorder, I was swiftly prescribed a course of beta blockers to help ‘calm me down’.

Suffice to say this wasnt the answer I was looking for – unless you want to feel like a subdued, unemotional robot all day.

So I decided to look for some answers of my own.

Changing the Way You Think WILL Change the Way You Feel

It was while looking into the causes of anxiety that I started finding out about the more specific symptom of social anxiety disorder.

After reading through a number of books on the subject and blogs of other sufferers, I started to discover more about the condition – what causes it and what you can do to overcome it.

I then set about applying what I’d learned to my daily life and making changes to the way I thought about things, how I reacted to situations and making lifestyle changes so I became more active and raised my self esteem.

I wasnt cured overnight. But with practice and patience, the changes I made to how I thought about the people around me and how I reacted to social situations helped me to gradually reduce the fear, nervous thoughts and uncomfortable feelings of social anxiety disorder.

I can still feel anxious from time to time. But my social anxiety disorder is nowhere near the levels it was. It no longer stops me from going where I want to go or doing the things I want to do. And my life has vastly improved as a result.

Rather than being stuck at home, I’m now out living my life, taking part in activities like rock climbing and trekking, and I can even go out and meet friends without worrying what other people are thinking.

I created this website to help others struggling with social anxiety disorder by writing about the strategies and tactics that worked for me in the hope they can help other people as well.

If you suffer from social anxiety disorder simple everyday activities, such as going to the shops or standing on a crowded bus, can seem daunting. Worrying about what other people think of you and if something bad will happen blights the lives of millions around the world.

In fact, it’s estimated that 15 million people in the US suffer from an anxiety disorder and 2.3 million in the UK. So if you suffer from social phobia you’re not alone.

However, you’ll be pleased to know that anxiety isn’t something you have to live with for the rest of your life. It can be just a difficult phase you’ve had to deal with, because it’s clinically proven that you CAN discover how to think in a happier, healthier manner, which will help your anxiety to reduce.

By reading my eBook and practicing its self help strategies you’ll discover how to respond to situations more objectively and how to feel more relaxed around people you don’t know.

Thanks a million. You are a really insightful and compassionate writer, not to mention, accessible writer.

Why you need to take action

If you suffer from social phobia then you probably already know how uncomfortable the effects can be. The physical and mental symptoms can be so overpowering that you might avoid social situations altogether, preferring the safety of your home.

But hiding away from the world is not the answer. Avoiding people might protect you from feeling nervous in the short-term. But isolating yourself from friends and family can lead to depression because of your withdrawal from an active, fulfilling life.

Some sufferers turn to alcohol or illegal drugs to try and block out the symptoms. But this will merely make you feel worse in the long run and prevent you from dealing with the root cause of your problem. Even worse, it can lead to alcoholism or drug addiction, heaping yet more problems onto your plate.

But you don’t have to put up with social anxiety forever. It can be just a difficult phase you’ve been through before moving on with the rest of your life.

In recent decades, a lot of research has been conducted into what causes anxiety and depression, and what can be done to treat its symptoms.

As a result, therapeutic techniques have been developed to help sufferers reduce their uncomfortable thoughts, and discover how to think, feel and behave in a happier, healthier manner free from excessive anxious worries.

THANK YOU for providing this wonderful website. I’ve just now discovered, at age 36, that I might have SAD. I googled it, and came across your website, and everything is now making perfect sense as to why I feel and act the way I do

What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy?

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a well researched and widely used form of psychotherapy for treating depression and anxiety. It’s recommended by the UK’s National Health Service, is taught by therapists all over the world and has helped thousands overcome social phobia.

Depression and anxiety are driven by unhelpful thoughts that are illogical and inaccurate. CBT provides a series of goal driven strategies for identifying these unhelpful thoughts and then showing you how to replace them with more realistic, objective ways of thinking.

As you learn to think about things more clearly, you’ll start to change the way you feel, and your anxiety will gradually reduce as a result.

Cognitive behavioural therapy has helped many thousands to reduce their anxiety, and live happier, more fulfilling lives.

And it can help you too.

“As I read more and more about SAD, I am discovering that THIS has been the very thing keeping me from my full potential in life, and it feels so good to have a “name” for this condition I have been
plagued with, ever since childhood.”

How my eBook can help reduce your social anxiety

Whilst there are already some excellent books on CBT, many people feel daunted at having to wade through a 300 page book to find the answers they need.

My 59 page eBook is designed to be an easy to read guide to social anxiety. It provides a series of self help CBT strategies for discovering how to think in a healthier manner (and I’ve also added all the articles on this site).

It includes sections on:

• What causes social anxiety
• What are the unhelpful thoughts that make you feel anxious
• How to work out your belief system
• How to replace your negative beliefs with more helpful, positive thoughts and feelings
• Why you feel the way that you think
• Achieving self acceptance and why you’re not worthless
• How to climb a ladder to a better life
• Ways of coping with socially anxious situations
• Reinforcing your new ways of thinking
• Where you can turn for further help

Reading your website, and reading other SAD blogs has inspired me to blog myself, just a way to journal and have others witness my journey as I find a way to live with SAD.

Changing the way you think will change the way you feel

With practice and patience, the techniques explained in my eBook will help you to improve the way you think and feel. As your new objective ways of thinking take hold, and become a natural part of the way you respond to situations, your anxiety will gradually reduce.

Situations that previously made you feel nervous, such as eating in a restaurant or going shopping, won’t seem so daunting and you’ll find it easier to interact with strangers in social situations.

Cognitive behavioural therapy has helped thousands overcome their social phobia and live more active, fulfilling lives. It helped me, and my hope is that the strategies in my eBook will help you too.

“Thank you SO much for inspiring me. I just LOVE the Internet!”

Money back guarantee

Cognitive behavioural therapy is clinically proven to help people suffering from depression or anxiety to think in a more positive manner, which in turn improves the way they feel. However, changing the way your brain works and how you respond to situations won’t happen overnight.

It takes practice and patience to change the way you think, feel and behave; my eBook provides you with a goal driven strategy for doing it.

However, if after three months of practising the techniques in my eBook you feel your social anxiety hasn’t reduced then I’ll refund your money in full (email: matt@socialanxietydisorder.org.uk).

My only request is that you don’t allow this to stop you on your journey to discovering how you CAN overcome social phobia, because you just to find another path and there’s plenty of help available to help you find your way.

£2.88 ($4.45)

(If you’re using Google’s Chrome browser, please right click on ‘Add to Cart’ and select ‘open link in new tab’)

Also available on Amazon Kindle

P.S. My eBook provides an easy to read guide on social anxiety and a series of self help cognitive behavioural therapy exercises taught by clinical psychotherapists to help people think in a healthier, happier manner.

You feel the way that you think, and discovering how you can think more positively is clinically proven to help reduce anxiety and social phobia.

It was only after entering into adulthood that my social anxiety started to become a more serious problem.

Eventually I reached a crossroads where I could either continue feeling isolated, and subconsciously threatened by other people, or do something about it. I could see where life was heading if I didn’t – and it didn’t look good.

So I want to see my doctor to see what they could suggest and was prescribed propranolol (a beta blocker mainly used to treat hypertension) to ‘calm me down’. Whilst propranolol did calm my nerves (slightly) it wasnt doing anything to counter the negative thoughts that kept hammering away at me whenever I was out in public.

So I decided to do some research of my own. After getting past all the websites promising miracle cures in pill form, I discovered that I wasn’t alone in suffering from nerves in social situations and that it was a recognized condition which could be treated with therapy and being able to change the negative thoughts that caused anxiety.

I then bought a few books on cognitive behavioral therapy and started to practice all the strategies they advised for changing the way I thought about things. I also made a few lifestyle changes (exercising and being more active rather then being slumped in front of the TV feeling miserable) to help raise my self confidence.

Improvement didnt happen overnight. But as I continued practicing cognitive behavioral therapy techniques, I gradually found thinking more positively became a more natural part of the way my mind worked. This in turn reduced the physical symptoms and made leaving the house a less worrying prospect.

Whilst I cant say I’m suddenly ‘cured’ (whether you ever can be) I now have a much healthier outlook on life and feel much more confident in the way I approach social situations. Social phobia now doesn’t stop me going where I want and doing what I want to do. The thoughts are sometimes still there, but now I can just ignore them because I know they’re inaccurate and unhelpful.

I wrote my eBook to provide other people suffering from social anxiety with a guide to understanding their problem, what causes it and the strategies they can use to overcome it. They worked for me, so hopefully they’ll work for other people too and help them feel more confident, happy and relaxed in social situations.

Should you wish to contact me, my email address is:

Matt@socialanxietydisorder.org.uk

Social anxiety disorder is a difficult problem to overcome. But not impossible.

Once you’ve accepted that it’s inaccurate thoughts causing you to feel anxious you can start working on changing them. Because changing the way you think will change the way you feel.

My advice would be to look at it as a long term campaign you’ll need to engage, rather than hoping for a short term ‘miracle’ cure from medication.

Here’s my suggestion for steps your campaign to defeat social anxiety could take:

1. Read as much as you can about social anxiety disorder

Luckily, it’s no longer an unknown problem, and there are plenty of websites and books on the subject.

I can personally recommend these books:

Overcoming Social Anxiety – Gillian Butler

Feeling Good  – Dr David D. Burns

The Dummies Guide to Social Phobia  – Rob Wilson and Rhena Branch

2. Talk to your friends and family about it

Not easy I know, but confiding in someone else and explaining why you sometimes feel overly nervous will help release some of the pressure on yourself. They might also be able to help and will be more understanding when you start feeling anxious in social situations.

3. Take up new hobbies and be more active

Filling you life with new interests can give you more of a sense of fulfillment, satisfaction and self confidence. Humans are inherently doers, and lying in bed all day hiding under the bedcovers will simply make you feel worse in the long run and prevents you overcoming your problem. If you don’t feel comfortable joining local sports teams or special interest clubs then take up a hobby you can work on at home, such as a new musical instrument, reading or teaching yourself how to cook delicious gourmet dishes.

4. Exercise

I can’t emphasise how effective regular exercise can be at relieving anxiety. I’d recommend jogging for half and hour everyday if you can manage it, otherwise just go for a stroll or exercise at home (press ups, situps etc). Getting in shape will boost your confidence, help you be more active and there’s truth in the old adage ‘a healthy body means a healthy mind’.

5. Gradually expose yourself to the situations that make you feel nervous

Although this can be a struggle, this is the strategy recommended by cognitive therapists for gradaully overcoming the inaccurate physical and mental symptoms of social anxiety. Write a list of the situations your afraid of. Put them in order from the least scary to the terrifying worst and then gradually try to work through them, exposing yourself for a little bit longer each time.

At the end of the day, you’ll need to find your own path to overcoming social anxiety. But always remember that you can learn to change the way you think. And changing the way you think will change the way you feel, and behave.

Whilst on YouTube I also stumbled upon this video featuring a former sufferer who has managed to overcome his social anxiety by realising why certain situations made him feel uncomfortable and then learning what he needed to do to overcome his social phobia.

I hope you find the videos useful, and you might also like to read some of the comments underneath to remind yourself that you’re not alone and that social anxiety is more common than you might think.

From the film  I got the impression that Kurt exhibited many of the characteristics and symptoms of someone who suffers from social anxiety disorder.

Unhappy childhood

His childhood was blighted by an unaffectionate parent and problems at school from feeling isolated and bullied by the other kids. He comments how he used to feel constantly paranoid and threatened by other people, and even had thoughts of violence because of it.

If you suffer from a lack of affection, a difficulty to connect with other people and social awkwardness then this can lead to an irrational fear, distrust or hatred of other people in adult life. And it’s believed by psychotherapists that the underlying thought processes which lead to social anxiety disorder are formed by unhappy childhood experiences.

Kurt was known to be a recluse, withdrawn and rarely engaged with other people if he could avoid it, typical symptoms of someone who suffered from social phobia.

Kurt’s answer to his troubling thoughts and his chronic stomach pains was to self medicate with opiates and heroin, which would have offered temporary escape but exasperated his problems in the long run.

A life without hope?

Nobody really knows what drove someone who was wealthy, successful and had a baby girl to feel that life was so futile that suicide was the only escape from their misery. But it’s likely that it was his inability to overcome his troubling thought patterns that made his life seem so intolerable.

Now I’m not an expert on Kurt Cobain and haven’t read any of the books on his life, but from my perspective it seems that he could have benefited from cognitive behavioural therapy.

Social phobia and other social anxiety disorders are driven by irrational, negative thought patterns. If Kurt could have been helped to understand how it was the unhelpful childhood experiences driving his subconscious hatred of people and gloomy outlook on life then maybe he could have been directed onto another path.

You feel the way that you think

The way our brains respond to the world around us is a complex puzzle which psychologists and therapists are still making sense of.

But if the brain has been programmed to think in an unhelpful way because of a troubling childhood then, with practice and patience, it can be reprogrammed to think in a more, realistic and helpful manner.

Perhaps if Kurt had learned to challenge his negative thoughts and to replace them with more objective ways of thinking then he might still be with us today, and writing more optimistic songs filled with life and hope because of it.

[Photo courtesy of kalandrakas]

If you suffer from social anxiety disorder, social phobia or depression then you might think it’s other people or situations that make you feel nervous or unhappy. If people weren’t rude or stared at you then you wouldn’t need to feel miserable or anxious, right?

Well, extensive clinical studies (400+ in fact) have shown that it’s the unhelpful thoughts events provoke which make you feel uncomfortable, rather than purely the situations themselves.

Over the last fifty years, a number of clever people (Aaron Beck and Arnold Lazarus being two) put their heads together to make sense of why some people react differently to things than others.

As a result, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) was born, which is a form of psychotherapy for changing negative thought patterns (cognitions) into healthier, positive ones.

CBT is a common sense, problem solving approach to discovering how to think and behave in a more objective, happier manner, and reduce uncomfortable feelings as a result.

You feel the way that you think

If you developed a negative outlook as a child (e.g. from being neglected, bullied or mistreated in some way) then you probably tend to view the world in a gloomy light. You might have grown up thinking that you’re worthless, other people are unfriendly and that only bad things will befall you.

Developing a negative outlook is what can cause anxiety or depression in adult life, because your ability to respond logically to situations is hampered by your unhappy childhood memories. Thinking negatively all the time means you only see the bad in people and situations, rather than responding to them objectively.

As a result, if people are rude to you or if you do something stupid or embarrassing then you probably mull over it for ages afterwards, and think it means your unacceptable or worthless in some way.

Changing the way you think will change how you feel

With depression the world’s biggest (and growing) mental health issue, it’s unsurprising that so many drug companies are offering ‘miracle cures’ in pill form.

However, studies have shown that medication alone can’t mend the deep rooted thoughts and feelings which are making you feel uncomfortable. Medication can only soften the symptoms.

In studies, CBT has proven to be more effective than medication on its own. So it’s no surprise that over the last couple of decades CBT has grown in popularity with therapists, doctors and psychologists because of its effectiveness in helping people to think, feel and behave in a healthier, more positive way.

In fact, a UK government advisor on happiness believes CBT could reduce unemployment by helping more people back into work.

Skills that can help you for life

When people with depression stop taking their medication they can start feeling miserable again almost immediately. CBT, however, teaches people how to challenge negative thought patterns and provides them with strategies for feeling better about themselves. In a way, CBT enables you to become your own therapist.

CBT can be practiced in a group, on your own through a self-help course or with a therapist. As well as practical exercises for discovering how to think more healthily, you’ll also receive guidance on additional strategies, such as the importance of exercise, how to be assertive and discovering how to be more active, which will help to reduce your symptoms.

Overcoming social anxiety disorder or depression won’t happen overnight. In fact, it can take months before you’ll find your new ways of thinking taking hold and improving how you feel.

However, the amount of research, clinical studies and popularity amongst mental health practitioners on the effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy means discovering it should be at the top of your list if you suffer from social anxiety, social phobia or depression.

The scheme uses lessons taught in the USA by the Penn Resiliency Program, based in Philadelphia, which adopts tried and tested cognitive behavioural therapy techniques to ‘detect inaccurate thoughts, to evaluate the accuracy of those thoughts, and to challenge negative beliefs by considering alternative interpretations’.

Teaching children cognitive behavioural therapy could help them avoid problems later on in life

Whilst some might remember their school days with fond memories, childhood can be a difficult period because of peer pressure, the desire to fit in and having to cope with all the struggles of teenage life.

Psychotherapists believe that it’s during childhood that you form your belief system: opinions on yourself, other people and the world around you. Upsetting childhood experiences, such as being neglected or bullied, can lead to problems later on in life because of the negative associations you attach to similar situations.

So equipping impressionable school children with the skills to identify inaccurate, unhelpful thoughts and then to replace them with healthier, happier ways of thinking could prove invaluable in helping them grow into secure, confident adults.

Treatment for anxiety and depression is a global issue

In a 2006 international survey UK children ranked bottom for happiness and well being. Some blame celebrity culture, with its focus on money and possessions, for giving children an unhelpful value system (although the problem is far more complicated than a single root cause). However, teaching them how to feel confident and secure, without needing the latest designer clobber or the approval of others, could be coming at just the right time.

Awareness on the effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy, for treating anxiety and depression, is spreading all the time. The UK’s ‘happiness tsar’ Professor Richard Layard even believes it could help people living on benefits to get back to work.

With depression the world’s biggest mental health problem, teaching more people cognitive behavioural therapy (whether self taught, with a therapist or in a group) could make a positive impact on not just on the lives of children but society in general.

[photo courtesy James Jordan]

The brain is a complicated muscle, but one we’re learning more about all the time. Most people aren’t adversely affected by the changes in the weather as summer draws to a close, whilst some feel moody, drained and depressed with the arrival of cold winds and gray skies.

In the news recently the results of research was announced that identified a biological reason why two million people in the UK suffer from seasonal affective disorder.

Scientists from the Centre of Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, Canada, conducted brain scans of 88 adults. They discovered that those who experienced low moods and depression in winter had a higher level of a specific protein than those who were unaffected by seasonal changes.

It’s believed that the identified protein soaks up serotonin (feel good chemical) in the brain, causing an adverse effect on people’s mood. It’s long been known that depression is accompanied by low serotonin levels, so the research further emphasises how important a healthy mind and body are for your sense of well being.

With anxiety being such a complicated and deep rooted issue I’d suggest that other factors are probably at play along with the higher levels of a certain protein. However, the fact that scientists are now able to identify some of the biological reasons why the brain behaves in a certain way emphasises the strides being made in understanding anxiety in all its forms.

Full story: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2666173/Winter-blues-Causes-of-SAD-revealed.html