Posted by Adam on April 2, 2001, at 1:16:57
In reply to Treatment for Social Phobia w/o MAOI ,benzo, SSRI?, posted by jb on March 28, 2001, at 15:41:39
Hi, jb,
You know your stuff, and perhaps you've already tried it...I'm not anti-drug at all, and I know sometimes this route doesn't work, but I have an axiety disorder (OCD-spectrum), and cognative-behavioral therapy helped a great deal.
I have no doubt that these disorders have a biological component. But CBT is especially good for anxiety disorders and phobias, such as social phobia (efficacy is on par with meds in all the studies I've seen, though there are always individual variations, of course), and if you haven't tried it, I highly recommend it as an augmentation to your search for a good drug therapy. It's very hard work, and it can take a very long time, but there is the opportunity in adopting such a regimen to learn a great deal about yourself and other people that you just can't get from medicines. Even if you fail to achieve the desired result, I think you will find what you (should you try it) learned during therapy is extremely useful in making the transition to a state of greater health. The sad thing about these illnesses is they have effects that are more subtle than their extant symptoms. Those with pathological anxiety (like I have had, and sometimes still have) can suffer a penalty in the loss, through avoidance, of some of the experiences that facilitate social adaptation. The only way to gain such experiences is to seek them out, ready or not. Social discomforts and embarassments (which I have had in abundance) can be painful, humiliating, demoralizing, and, yes, even depressing. But it gets better, after a while, and, as a result, so do you, if everything works as planned.
Again, don't mean to give you advice you may not need, but I saw no mention of therapy, and, if you are suffering from an anxiety disorder, it's very much worth trying.
> Has anyone had anything close to 100% effectiveness (I realize that's just a goal)for treatment of their social phobia. I seem to read more and more about various "cocktails," which are augmentation or combinations.
>
> I'd really, really like to stay away from Klonopin, because of its cognitive and memory effects. Also, I've had little effectiveness from most other AD's, including the SSRI's and their cousins. Nardil was effective, but had intolerable side effects.
>
> I've seen a few postings about people touting Wellbutrin as an almost 100% cure or Adrafinil as a 100% cure. Anyone with any experience?
>
> Thanks.
>
> JB
poster:Adam
thread:57815
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010327/msgs/58405.html