I don't know who it was who made some suggestions to a fellow sufferer, but I'm SO grateful to the person who recommended books by Dr Kristin Neff and videos by a past social anxiety sufferer called Christiaan Van Der Schrier I havebought a book by Dr Neff called 'Self-Compassion' and she sends e-mails with very helpful advice every so often.And I've just had ten very helpful and in-depth e-mails from
Christiaan, and will continue to follow him in every which way I can.
Once again, A VERY BIG THANK YOU!!!
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worthytobeloved
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Some of the other things that helped me heal my social anxiety was determining why and how I developed it so I would know my story and if I needed additional help. Mine came from growing up in an emotional and physically abusive household and being bullied in school which led to my SA. I realized that not only did I have SA but I also had trauma/c-ptsd from the trauma of my childhood and the bullying. I found a therapist that specialized in treating trauma/c-ptsd and worked with him to heal the shame, anger and rage I had at my upbringing and the bullying which really helped in also healing my SA. Your background may be different so this may or may not apply to you but investigating your background can be very helpful if needed. The other thing is that most of us with SA have low-self-worth so learning and practicing self-compassion like you are doing with Kristin Neff is really good, there is also a lot of good info on youtube about it and healing low-self-worth. I particularly like Dr. Bernadette Sewell, and Bernadette Logue and another good resource is Emma at Therapy In a Nutshell.
Thank you so VERY much for yet more helpful advice! I'm very much like you in that I was bullied as a child at the age of seven. Because we lived in the wilds of East Africa we were home schooled till seven, then we had to be sent to boarding school. So, being bullied while away from home was awful. While there, I started wetting my bed, and the matron used to gather all the girls around me, and mock me. Then, still at the age of seven, my mum called me 'dirty,' and 'deformed'. Consequently, I truly believed I was a freak of nature that everyone looked down on.When I was nine, we came to England in a very cold winter, and lived in a big city, so it was a real culture shock. Then, at the age of twelve, I was followed down the road we lived in by kerbcrawlers, which embarrassed and scared me.
After leaving nursing training due to a breakdown, I became agorophobic, and couldn't even be in a room. if the curtains weren't shut, in case someone saw me. That lasted quite a few years.
Obviously, other traumatic things happened in my life, so I do understand why I'm like I am.
I've had lots of therapy over the years, which helped, but at the moment I'm virtually housebound, mainly due to my feeling ugly, and scared people will be cruel.
However, you've been a great help, so I will work on it! Many thanks, once again!
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