Social anxiety got worse...

Post Reply New Topic

...since I've been seeing a psychologist. WHY? I thought this was going to make everything better? I've already had 3 appointments, and it's like I'm even more analyzing every move I make/thought I have, I feel worse, more anxious and everything! Is this normal?

Some psychologists who does not know a lot about ASD thinks exposure therapy is a good idea for people on the spectrum, which can make things worse... Maybe this is the case here?

I can see how concentrating on it can add more distress....

When I received therapy for PTSD, I wasn't very angry prior to it. After therapy, I had more outbursts. What I noticed is that I actually had to confront the problem, instead of avoid it like I normally do. My body had it's own way of dealing with anger by internalizing it, but after I started externalizing it.

Sometimes therapy can make things worse. Without therapy, over time, our memories of things naturally dims some, and we are able to put incidents in perspective from a safe psychological distance. With therapy, we are sometimes made to rehash unpleasant things over, and over, and over. This can lead to forming a mental "groove" for the unpleasant topics to get caught in, so they constantly repeat, like a broken record. It can be like constantly jabbing oneself with an electric cattle prod, with no time for the memories to fade to a safer, less toxic level. This can lead to being made more upset by things, instead of being helped by the therapy.

There are times when therapy can be a help, but personally I prefer to do without.

ya after i took theraphy i broke off ties with my parents and brother i realised they were toxic
it did bring out many issues which were in the grave

All anxiety gets worse. mine turns me into a completely different comunicator for shure

But i was allowing others to victimise me before theraphy and i learned to stand up for myself after theraphy.
I can only stand up for myself with my family members outside i am still the dormouse and people laugh at me

me too my therapist doesn't help either. she has very little understanding of asperger's (despite being related to someone who has it), and a somewhat limited understanding of me in general. can't blame her, us aspies are kinda f**king mysterious.

my main problem is that people avoid me........i am unable to figure out why they avoid me

Yes, this is normal. It's part of the learning process. Think about starting a new class or a new job, and it's like you're being hit with a whole bunch of new things and people and knowledge, and at first in your mind it's a jumbled mess. Your brain is trying to make sense of it, find the patterns, get back to a point that you have better predictions regarding your environment and situation.

Some people are more comfortable with change and seem to be able to flow and adapt more easily and flexibly when changes occur. Other people feel a loss of control over their environment when changes occur, and that loss of control can be very frightening. It's a very rigid mindset that you may or may not be able to change, but that feeling of loss of control will abate over time as you become more used to the changes your therapist is invoking in you. If it doesn't get better, then suggest to the therapist to go slower and with fewer changes at any given time. Work on smaller portions so that you always have positive gains that you can readily see. Don't be afraid of slight increase in anxiety, as if you have a good therapist, that anxiety will start to clear away and the results will be a better for you, but you just have to muster through the rough stages to get to the better stages.

theraphy is effective if the people and situation around you changed
but if you are going to live with the same "#%$^ people then theraphy can backfire.
earlier you maybe taking s**t from those people
but after theraphy you may retaliate and loose lot of people from your life
happened with me...........theraphy taught me to stand up for myself
but it isolated me cos i learned this people were dangerous for me.
meeting the..rapist backfired

Must be a local thing, if I see where you are from.

I used to get the same, till I stopped visiting psychologists.

I think a psychiatrist is basically enough for an aspie to have since stuff like that just causes stress in any individual, getting to the appointment on time, waiting in the waiting room with other people in complete silence, not mentioning the anxiety you get when you find out they raised their bills again, they're so expensive.