Growing up, I was usually a shy child, always clinging to my parents when in unaccustomed situations or around unfamiliar people. As I grew older, this shyness manifested itself into a sometimes crippling social anxiety. My anxieties have affected my daily life since middle school- the thought of answering a phone when it is someone I don’t know calling often leaves me paralyzed, asking for help in a store is something I can never manage, and speaking out in class is always a nightmare. I would like to cease my social anxiety in order to comfortably communicate with those around me. This can effectively be done by methods used in Norman Doidge’s book, the Brain that Changes Itself, such as Exposure and Response Prevention, Cognitive Therapy,
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CBT can be effective for those with anxiety by analyzing the things that boost the anxiety, such as thinking statements like “I should always have something to say and it should always be the right thing to say,” and then adjusting them to be rational statements(OCD Center of Los Angeles). There are four cognitive distortions that push such beliefs: “mind reading (assuming you know what others are thinking), catastrophizing (predicting negative future outcomes), personalization (believing that the behavior of others must have something to do with you) and should/must statements (unrealistic expectations of one’s own behavior)”(OCD Center of Los Angeles). A CBT therapist will help their patients to understand these statements and how to reverse them. However, there can be a downside to CBT. The process “immerses the patient in the content of his OCD”(Doidge 122). The majority of the time, the patient is already aware that his or her thoughts are irrational, “[the] problem is, she doesn't feel that way." I, too, am aware that most of my anxieties are irrational. I know nothing bad will happen when I answer the phone, so why does it always cause me such trauma? With CBT, however, I believe I would be able to pinpoint exactly which cognitive distortions cause me anxiety, mind reading, catastrophizing, etc., and how I can ease
CBT can be effective for those with anxiety by analyzing the things that boost the anxiety, such as thinking statements like “I should always have something to say and it should always be the right thing to say,” and then adjusting them to be rational statements(OCD Center of Los Angeles). There are four cognitive distortions that push such beliefs: “mind reading (assuming you know what others are thinking), catastrophizing (predicting negative future outcomes), personalization (believing that the behavior of others must have something to do with you) and should/must statements (unrealistic expectations of one’s own behavior)”(OCD Center of Los Angeles). A CBT therapist will help their patients to understand these statements and how to reverse them. However, there can be a downside to CBT. The process “immerses the patient in the content of his OCD”(Doidge 122). The majority of the time, the patient is already aware that his or her thoughts are irrational, “[the] problem is, she doesn't feel that way." I, too, am aware that most of my anxieties are irrational. I know nothing bad will happen when I answer the phone, so why does it always cause me such trauma? With CBT, however, I believe I would be able to pinpoint exactly which cognitive distortions cause me anxiety, mind reading, catastrophizing, etc., and how I can ease