"Social Anxiety Disorder", Anyone have it?

Senior HTF Member

I had to quote this because it is SO true. Learning about what you have is the BEST way to overcome it. In a funny way, it'll almost seem like your Dr. doesn't help you as much as you'd think, it'll feel like you are self-diagnosing yourself. This is not uncommon because (as Jason pointed out) the patient is the only who knows what's going on with his/herself and not even a Professional Dr. can know as much as you already know.

In fact, the road to recovery is based on knowledge. It's this knowledge that helps us through panic attacks. For me, knowing that the panic I felt was not real and that it was just a response to low seretonin levels, made it easier for me to dismiss what I was actually feeling and overcome the fear. It's kind of like walking into a dark/scary basement and having your mind play tricks on you...Is there a monster down here? Is something going to jump out and get me? - These thoughts can all feel real and all you need to do is find the light switch and turn it on, making things seem less scary. This is kind of what you'll learn to do in therapy. You'll figure out how to shine light on your panic attacks so they don't seem as bad as they really are.

Of course, it's difficult to actually do this, but that's where the Dr. and meds come in to play, to help you get to that point.