Has anyone tried anti-anxiety meds for approach anxiety?

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Stalk
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13 Feb 2013, 10:58 am

what's the worst that can happen? that I remember what happened and people around me talking about it. playing the memory over and over in my head and reliving it.



Nambo
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13 Feb 2013, 4:27 pm

A few years back, I was put on the SSI Cipralex to treat depression, cant say it helped with that, but it completely got rid of my social anxiety, too much to a certain extent, mad me rather reckless on the Motorcycle as well.

Anyway, I weaned myself off that, but the period did actually teach me how to be more sociable and not to be anxious about it, so although Iam no longer on the drug, Ive learnt social skills from when I was on.



ripped
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13 Feb 2013, 5:27 pm

Pabalebo wrote:
I imagine that I would feel fine after initial "approach"... unfortunately, I've never actually gotten past that while anywhere near sober.


Approach anxiety is the conflict between wanting a certain outcome and having no control over it.
When you approach someone, you have no control over how that person will react.
What you do have control over is your reason for approaching them.
So to control approach anxiety, you must approach without the desire for an outcome.



Last edited by ripped on 14 Feb 2013, 7:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

MountainLaurel
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13 Feb 2013, 9:20 pm

Hi Pab.

I think you stand a good chance of benefiting from and possibly enjoying cognitive therapy. You seem to have the gift of honest introspection. Some folks can be lead to introspection, others just can't go there and those who already practice it are primed for positive theraputic results.

I have undertaken three courses of psychotherapy in my life; three different therapists and three different motivating factors. Each was a pure gift to myself. I dread to think how I would be now if not for the generous guides that helped me in therapy. Perhaps I would have made some of the positive changes on my own somehow, but surely not all. With patience, therapists gently and literally changed how I think, feel and perceive in subtle but important ways. They helped me to my better self by revealing self defeating patterns.

Mind, it wasn't quick or easy for the therapists or me. Bad patterns are often previously effective coping mechanisms which were once necessary but have outlasted their value. Perceiving and quitting those old patterns is far from automatic.

I have also used a couple of psychotheraputic drugs during some bad patches (depression). One was beautifully effective and I was able to taper off it completely once my personal seas were calmed. I think I was on it for less than a year. I don't know whether that might be case with anti-anxiety drugs; take them for a while to get over a hump? It's worth asking the question.

At your age you're launching into your adult life. It could be perfect timing for some paring away at the old self. I'm a gardener; good pruning proceeds healthy beautiful new growth.



Last edited by MountainLaurel on 13 Feb 2013, 9:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Tyri0n
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13 Feb 2013, 9:53 pm

Pabalebo wrote:
I really hate to keep making these threads complaining about essentially the same thing, but I feel like this one takes a bit of a different approach to the same problem. Never had I really considered that I might have a problem curable by medicine before... but maybe I do.

So, as far as my dating troubles go, it's like I know exactly what to do, but when the time comes to go do it, I start overthinking and p**** out, either before I even try, or maybe if I'm a little drunk, halfway through. Anyone who's read my posts knows the details, and anyone who hasn't... well, the first sentence of this paragraph is a pretty good summary.

What I'm wondering is, since I think there are more than a few people here in my position, have you ever tried anti-anxiety meds? If so, did they help? For me... massive amounts of alcohol will do the trick to solve this problem... but obviously that detracts from my likelihood of success in other ways (i.e. causing me to behave like a complete ret*d as*hole). Also, I'm an athlete, and would like to remain an athlete, and obviously, massive amounts of alcohol doesn't really contribute to that goal either. What I'm wondering is if there is another chemical which blocks inhibitions without the other effects of alcohol... and if anyone has tried it and can recommend? I'm getting REAL sick of having opportunities, and passing them up because I'm an idiot, or a p****, or a "nice guy", or a stereotypical sexually frustrated nerd, or whatever the correct word for me is...


The only ones I would recommend trying are beta blockers, namely metoprolol and proplanolol.

SSRI's (and things like Xanax) are known to cause severely negative effects in autistic people. What's worse is you may not be aware of the effects for a long time.

Here's my experience:

I was on Zoloft for quite some time (nearly 6 months) and wondered why people kept treating me like they were scared of me and like I was some kind of weirdo (sure, I'm shy/anxious/awkward, but I had never gotten this before. People usually naturally like me and want to help me out); I not only looked "off," but I was also uninhibited and didn't sufficiently follow social customs. I go to a very liberal law school but had the compulsion to post nasty stuff about Barack Obama on Facebook (even though I'm quite a lefty) because Zoloft caused me to have an overwhelming compulsion to make people angry. Every time I made a Facebook status, something like 6 people unfriended me. lmao

I later figured out it was the Zoloft. About 4 months into taking Zoloft, I suddenly started spiraling into alternating depression and bloody rage, so I got off it. Another anxiety drug SSRI that I took for 1 month caused nearly 5 months of depression even after I got off it, and it, too, caused my social skills to implode. It essentially sent me back 10 years to when I was 15 in terms of social ability.

So DO NOT ever take SSRIs is you are on the Autism Spectrum. What's more, the Connecticut shooter was on SSRIs, and having personally experienced the bloody rage induced by Zoloft, I think they may have had something to do with his actions.



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13 Feb 2013, 11:47 pm

hyperlexian wrote:
instead of changing our thoughts (like in CBT) we changed our behaviours, which is supposed to change our emotions over time. anxiety leads to avoidance, so we forced ourselves to deal with life's issues in spite of the anxiety.
.


Wonder what drugs would be used for someone who already does the 'force to deal with issues' to the point where there is no anxiety but still F up when it comes to anything to do with conversation.

or perhaps thats not anxiety at all. the mind-blank of words and/or the complete inability to keep a conversation rolling... what would that be? (oddly enough, alcohol sort of cures all the above issues.. so im guessing it is chemical imbalance or just brain needs to get Fd up to function 'normally'? meh).



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14 Feb 2013, 5:01 am

I'd avoid anything like Xanax, Clonazapam or Klonapin..

Stuff's SCARY... and HIGHLY habit forming..



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14 Feb 2013, 5:40 am

Does alcohol count?



ripped
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14 Feb 2013, 7:24 pm

There's alcohol or MDMA (Available on prescription in some places.)
I had the best results sober with APS mesomorph pre-workout, but that was the old recipe with geranium. I think it was the nitric oxide that worked though.



Last edited by ripped on 15 Feb 2013, 1:25 am, edited 1 time in total.

moisha
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14 Feb 2013, 9:46 pm

Pabalebo wrote:
I really hate to keep making these threads complaining about essentially the same thing, but I feel like this one takes a bit of a different approach to the same problem. Never had I really considered that I might have a problem curable by medicine before... but maybe I do.

So, as far as my dating troubles go, it's like I know exactly what to do, but when the time comes to go do it, I start overthinking and p**** out, either before I even try, or maybe if I'm a little drunk, halfway through. Anyone who's read my posts knows the details, and anyone who hasn't... well, the first sentence of this paragraph is a pretty good summary.

What I'm wondering is, since I think there are more than a few people here in my position, have you ever tried anti-anxiety meds? If so, did they help? For me... massive amounts of alcohol will do the trick to solve this problem... but obviously that detracts from my likelihood of success in other ways (i.e. causing me to behave like a complete ret*d as*hole). Also, I'm an athlete, and would like to remain an athlete, and obviously, massive amounts of alcohol doesn't really contribute to that goal either. What I'm wondering is if there is another chemical which blocks inhibitions without the other effects of alcohol... and if anyone has tried it and can recommend? I'm getting REAL sick of having opportunities, and passing them up because I'm an idiot, or a p****, or a "nice guy", or a stereotypical sexually frustrated nerd, or whatever the correct word for me is...


propranolol(beta-blocker, beta adrenergic) alleviates the somatic(bodily) reactions your body exhibits during a bout of performance anxiety. reduces trembling, tremor, heart palpitations, sweaty palms, peeing your pants etc.

it doesn't get you stoned though...



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15 Feb 2013, 4:05 am

MountainLaurel wrote:
Mind, it wasn't quick or easy for the therapists or me. Bad patterns are often previously effective coping mechanisms which were once necessary but have outlasted their value. Perceiving and quitting those old patterns is far from automatic.


I know. In middle school, when everything I did or said actually WAS stupid and obnoxious, I could have used these defense/filtering mechanisms. Unfortunately, I didn't develop them until high school, when my reputation in my hometown was already damaged beyond repair. These mechanisms lasted well into college, and now, I'm trying to get rid of them, but they've helped me for so long, I can't do it unless I'm really drunk, like I am right now, yet again.

This is awful. For the umpteenth time, I've got out, and gotten hit on by girls I consider attractive, and yet am completely mentally unable to do anything for it, now matter how durnk I am. Even on V-Day... bar full of cheap-ass drinks and sad, drunk, single girls... can't do jack s**t, because I'm too much of a p****. Will probably be seeking psychological treatment on Monday. I don't know though... I've tried it before, last semester, once, and it did NOTHING for me... maybe I'm just a hopeless case... it's alright though, I suppose. Running the roads and trails can be my hot date... seems to be one the few things I actually have interest in lately...


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ripped
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15 Feb 2013, 4:16 am

See a hooker to get some confidence back.



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17 Feb 2013, 3:31 am

ripped wrote:
See a hooker to get some confidence back.


Lol. No. For a start, there aren't any true "hookers" in my town... just some really slu*ty girls. I am unwilling to go to a hooker anyway... it wouldn't help me gain any confidence back, it would only make me feel like I had stooped to an incredibly low level just to get myself some phsyical pleasure. To me, hookers, online dating, f*****g slu*ty girls on purpose... it's all the same form of "giving up" to me, and I refuse to do it. I am made of tougher stuff than that. I WILL NOT CHEAT. I will have a normal sexual life, or I will not have a sexual life at all.


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17 Feb 2013, 3:36 am

Maigheo wrote:
Does alcohol count?


Hahahha no. I wish it did. I've had far too many experiences with alcohol, including tonight, for about the 10th time this month. Doesn't work, and I'm starting to get fat and lose my running ability from it. I race-paced a 5k today and could only do 6:14/mile pace for a flat course, which may sound fast, but is actually quite slow for my standards. Monday I start training for another marathon, which means I won't be drinking much anyway. This is good... it doesn't really work for me too well anyway. I think it's just time to nut up or shut up... as is the case for most on this site...


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30 Mar 2016, 5:45 pm

If you're looking for supplement instead of medication, search Endicure for "Fear of Dating". The pills work for me if I need a quick boost.



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01 Apr 2016, 10:02 am

When I started taking Gabapentin, my approach anxiety was significantly reduced, to the point where I am now able to approach girls and talk to them. It's actually a painkiller, but it also treats anxiety disorders, including social anxiety.