Posted by Jedi on August 14, 2005, at 5:51:45
In reply to Re: Meds for Rejection, posted by rjlockhart98 on August 13, 2005, at 21:07:45
Hi,
I have had Social Anxiety Disorder since I was a teenager. I am now 48 years old and have been on medication for this and treatment resistant atypical depression for 9 years. The only med that has worked for me is Nardil. I believe it is still the gold standard for treatment resistant atypical depression and social anxiety. I seriously doubt if any PDOC will start you on a MAOI without first going through the SSRIs, the safer GABA enhancing meds, and probably several others. Actually, for this disorder, Nardil should probably be the 2nd tier choice.I wish I had started getting treatment when I was your age. I know I missed some really big opportunities over the years, because of the disorder. In high school I was so afraid of rejection, I never once asked a girl out. Even in college I had to hear that the girl was interested, usually through one of her friends, before I would risk asking her out. In fact, I met my wife that way. We've been together 23 years, thank God for matchmakers.
Self-medication with alcohol is common with this disorder. I was a problem drinker from the ages of 17 to 25. People perceive that the alcohol makes them less anxious in social situations. Why else would you have the pre-function before the big party.
Good Luck,
JediDIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA FOR SOCIAL PHOBIA
Social phobia* is diagnosed if the person meets all of the following criteria:A. A marked and persistent fear of one or more social or performance situations in which the person is exposed to unfamiliar people or to possible scrutiny by others. The individual fears that he or she will act in a way (or show anxiety symptoms) that will be humiliating or embarrassing.
B. Exposure to the feared social situation almost invariably provokes anxiety, which may take the form of a situationally bound or situationally predisposed panic attack.
C. The person recognizes that the fear is excessive or unreasonable.
D. The feared social or performance situations are avoided or else are endured with intense anxiety or distress.
E. The avoidance, anxious anticipation, or distress in the feared social or performance situation(s) interferes significantly with the person's normal routine, occupational (academic) functioning, or social activities or relationships, or there is marked distress about having the phobia.
F. In individuals under the age of 18, the duration is at least 6 months.
G. The fear or avoidance is not the result of the direct physiological effects of a substance or a general medical condition and is not better accounted for by another mental disorder.
H. If a general medical condition or another mental disorder is present, the fear in Criterion A is unrelated to it.
*Social phobia may be specific to one or a few social situations or generalized to most social situations.
SOURCE: Adapted from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (American Psychiatric Association 1994).
poster:Jedi
thread:541113
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050811/msgs/541428.html