# Need good books about social anxiety and how to overcome it



## Analyser (Jun 11, 2012)

Hello there,

I have been struggling with pretty severe social anxiety for more than a decade now and I would like to read more about it with the intention to possibly overcome it on my own. That's why I have been looking for good books about the anxiety. However, I thought it would be a good idea to stop by in this forum to see if anyone can give me some advice on which books to buy, knowing that I am mainly aiming to try to get rid of the anxiety. 

I prefer to buy from Amazon, so it would be great if you only advised books that can be bought from Amazon. As it might be relevant to decide which book is best for me, I am 20 years old and I also prefer to keep it as cheap as possible for the best possible quality.


Thanks in advance,


~


----------



## Promethea (Aug 24, 2009)

I highly recommend this, and many clinical psychologists would as well. 

You can also get it used _really_ cheap. Just read the descriptions of the used ones to make sure you get one thats not written in. 

The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook, Fourth Edition: Edmund J. Bourne: 9781572244139: Amazon.com: Books


----------



## Mange (Jan 9, 2011)

i like "spirituality" as a remedy for social anxiety. things like spending more time outside, doing relaxing, calming activities, staying away from drugs like caffeine and cigarettes, which are uppers, heightening anxiety, constricting blood vessels, upping heart rate, likewise staying away from high sugar and caloric foods. for me, as someone who tried various anti depressant meds that did not work for me for years, it's less of a medical issue, and more of a personal, spiritual issue, something that is unique to me as an individual, and not something that can be defined by books psychologists wrote who don't know me, personally, and what it is that makes me this way. it doesnt hurt to have a basic understanding of the human psyche though. i will say


----------



## Emerald Legend (Jul 13, 2010)

Check these ones out-
How to Stubbornly Refuse to Make Yourself Miserable About Anything: Yes, Anything: Albert Ellis: 9780818404566: Amazon.com: Books
Neurosis and Human Growth: The Struggle Towards Self-Realization: Karen Horney: 9780393307757: Amazon.com: Books [currently reading this and my mind is blown at how fuked up mind is. After reading this, you could know about anxiety and how to deal with it.]
Wherever You Go, There You Are (ROUGH CUT): Jon Kabat-Zinn: 9781401307783: Amazon.com: Books



All these are available online if you know where to look


----------



## DoIHavetohaveaUserName (Nov 25, 2015)

Analyser said:


> Hello there,
> 
> I have been struggling with pretty severe social anxiety for more than a decade now and I would like to read more about it with the intention to possibly overcome it on my own. That's why I have been looking for good books about the anxiety. However, I thought it would be a good idea to stop by in this forum to see if anyone can give me some advice on which books to buy, knowing that I am mainly aiming to try to get rid of the anxiety.
> 
> ...


Hi there , just watch GEORGE CARLIN .


----------



## Rhonda Rousey (Sep 22, 2015)

"Social Anxiety" is a made up disaese. be a real man.


----------



## Schizoid (Jan 31, 2015)

Rhonda Rousey said:


> "Social Anxiety" is a made up disaese. be a real man.


Social anxiety is a made up disease? Geez, you obviously don't know much about social anxiety. 
Telling a mentally ill person to snap out of it is the same as telling a physically sick person to stop being sick. Be a real man.


----------



## Worriedfunction (Jun 2, 2011)

Schizoid said:


> Social anxiety is a made up disease? Geez, you obviously don't know much about social anxiety.
> Telling a mentally ill person to snap out of it is the same as telling a physically sick person to stop being sick. Be a real man.


People who aren't experiencing something or haven't experienced something will find it almost impossible to relate to and so they judge on the criteria that other people are like unto themselves in their mental worlds.

There we find justification for any position of judgement towards other people that can be imagined. No one is innocent of it but I think it's beneficial on a larger scale to generate imagination towards positions we HAVEN'T experienced yet AKA empathy.

It will never be a case of being another person and their experience, but it can come as close as possible through approximation. Though it does take immense effort and has to be trained; like all skills.

Anxiety, especially of the social kind, is one a majority of people not only cannot relate to; it doesn't even factor into their concepts of 'what could be'. From what I've gathered, most people are inconsiderate towards a concept of social anxiety because it is entirely within the abstract and mental.

Anything assigned to those realms is the hardest to understand for those on the outside. A mental disorder caused by chemical imbalances is something we can grasp, but an almost inherent neurosis brought on by various factors and complex social intricacies? That's incredibly difficult to understand, I would be so arrogant here as to suggest that those who have never experienced any moments of social anxiety are that way due to being disposed towards not actually considering any of the unhelpful meta awarenesses that anxiety brings upon a person.

It's not something you can rationalise away with reason & logic, otherwise we would never experience the emotion of fear. It requires enormous amounts of willpower and self-propulsion to push past those social barriers and it needs to be topped up every day. It's very easy to slip back into the resignation of being a recluse.

Of course there are worse issues, worse situations, worse conditions, but relatively speaking that will always be the case. It doesn't mean that this particular one isn't worth looking into. We're not talking about the whiny neurotic who makes no attempt to improve upon the tiny (yet significant to them) hang ups they have in day to day life, we're talking about an issue that can prevent and stand in the way of living life. 

Usually by comparison to an average of cognitive normality (whatever that truly is) but roughly speaking it impairs an ability to function smoothly within social structures and I think it's very foolish and telling to ignore how important that is to a species like ours.

If only it wasn't so easy to step backwards....


----------



## peter pettishrooms (Apr 20, 2015)

Rhonda Rousey said:


> "Social Anxiety" is a made up disaese. be a real man.


Cool, I guess that makes me a fucking unicorn then.


----------



## marblecloud95 (Aug 12, 2015)

acidicwithpanic said:


> Cool, I guess that makes me a fucking unicorn then.


Really? I'm just an awkward potato.


----------



## Rhonda Rousey (Sep 22, 2015)

If you're experiencing panic attacks then you have GAD, not SAD. 

SAD is just being scared of socializing, which is ridiculous doctors made it a fucking a disease.


----------



## Arzazar Szubrasznikarazar (Apr 9, 2015)

Worriedfunction said:


> People who aren't experiencing something or haven't experienced something will find it almost impossible to relate to and so they judge on the criteria that other people are like unto themselves in their mental worlds.
> 
> There we find justification for any position of judgement towards other people that can be imagined. No one is innocent of it but I think it's beneficial on a larger scale to generate imagination towards positions we HAVEN'T experienced yet AKA empathy.
> 
> ...


#killallnormies.

The worst thing is when they demand one should do things they are easy for them and very difficult or impossible for someone else.


----------



## yet another intj (Feb 10, 2013)

My advice will be reading the memoir of a "people person", instead of wasting time with whatever personal development bullshit. Breathing exercises can't teach you how to take risks and simply be okay with them. Instead, seeing the world from his/her perspective and adopting a playfully confident mindset would be useful. It's all about unexpected problems, practical solutions, twisting and turning your luck for your own profit.


----------



## Arzazar Szubrasznikarazar (Apr 9, 2015)

yet another intj said:


> My advice will be reading the memoir of a "people person", instead of wasting time with whatever personal development bullshit. Breathing exercises can't teach you how to take risks and simply be okay with them. Instead, seeing the world from his/her perspective and adopting a playfully confident mindset would be useful. It's all about unexpected problems, practical solutions, twisting and turning your luck for your own profit.


Except that meditation helps with it immensely. That's why lots of very successful people meditate.


----------



## Mange (Jan 9, 2011)

Rhonda Rousey said:


> If you're experiencing panic attacks then you have GAD, not SAD.
> 
> SAD is just being scared of socializing, which is ridiculous doctors made it a fucking a disease.


Spoken like a mother fucker who has no idea what he's talking about. High five! :exterminate:


----------



## Rhonda Rousey (Sep 22, 2015)

xrx said:


> Spoken like a mother fucker who has no idea what he's talking about. High five! :exterminate:


Nice argument you got there, tho:ninja:


----------



## Mange (Jan 9, 2011)

Rhonda Rousey said:


> Nice argument you got there, tho:ninja:


And eyy,you spelled her name wrong tho.


***Ronda***


----------

