My Social Inhibitation Is SKY HIGH, How To Lower It?

[Such_Saturation]

...oh no...I'm verklempt!...talk amongst yourselves....

Have you tried citalopram?

 

[narouz]

Have you tried citalopram?

A big strong tough-talking hunk of a man like him,
usually so mean and violent and brave and righteous,
talk-singing those sweet tender words...
I just dissolve in tears and gushes of pent-up emotion.

Is that so wrong?

 

[charlie]

Narouz, start making a new thread(just pretend you are gonna make a thread and go through the motions) and look right above the subject. You should see it.

Yes, the OP picked that topic icon when they made the thread.

 

[narouz]

Narouz, start making a new thread(just pretend you are gonna make a thread and go through the motions) and look right above the subject. You should see it.

Yes, the OP picked that topic icon when they made the thread.

Will do. Thanks, Charlie.
I will never again let a thread of mine go pathetically iconless.

 

[cantstoppeating]

Glad we can count on narouz and such_saturation to frequently derail threads: narouz with his pontification and such_saturation with his empty one-line replies.

 

[Such_Saturation]

This is a dictatorship of prolixity right here.

 

[Sheik]

...

You, I hope we didn't scare you off. I for one don't think it's weird that you share your rants on multiple forums.

 

[schultz]

I believe my social anxiety stems from narcissism to an extent. Trying to project an identity. Takes a lot of energy. I need to let go of all the retarded neuroses that became stitched onto the identity that I try to project and that just alienate me from the common run of people. Just let go, get into people's wavelenght, look them in the eye, don't be insecure, respect myself and respect others.

Wow, you have explained this beautifully. I feel like printing this off and putting it on my fridge (I'm not being sarcastic!)

In a podcast Ray talked about 2 sets of rats or something in an experiment and about how the one group was anxious and aggressive but the other group was calm and confident. "Calm and confident" has sort of been my motto since hearing that.

 

[Daimyo]

https://raypeatforum.com/forums/posts/95271/

Okay, but getting muscles as the basis for everything else, I just can't see that.

You "help" some chick in the gym with her squat form. At least it will be fun. Just keep in mind the 80-20 rule. After you look good (not being fat, being big and muscular) you don't need to get 6pack to look good.

 

[natedawggh]

https://raypeatforum.com/forums/posts/95162/

LOL. YAAASS.

 

[natedawggh]

https://raypeatforum.com/forums/posts/95158/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_inhibition

Don't say meditation.

Lysine.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7656

 

[Catcream]

I don't know if this applies to you guys But when I started taking progest e for something else, a side effect ( bonus !) was that my terrible social anxiety and panic seemed to abate. I mentioned this to Ray, wondering if I was imagining it, he replied: "The effect on mood is something I’ve been noticing for about 40 years. An extremely suicidal 22 year old (episodes lasting a few days at intervals of exactly two weeks) came out of her desperate state completely in 40 minutes after using some progesterone (with exactly the same effect 2 weeks later). When she started using thyroid, she found that she didn’t need the progesterone."
And a bunch of iniersting links, including possibly the rat study schultz may have been referring to, about learned helplessness.

Psychoneuroendocrinology 2001 Jul;26(5):479-91
Antidepressant-like actions of pregnancy, and progesterone in Wistar rats forced
to swim.
Molina-Hernandez M, Tellez-Alcantara NP.
Laboratorio de Conducta, Instituto de Investigaciones Psicologicas, Universidad
Veracruzana, PO Box 361, 91000 Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico.
[email protected]
In rats, some behavioral changes occurring during pregnancy related to the
presence of progesterone may be analyzed in the forced swimming task (FST),
which is designed to test the antidepressant profile of drugs. The present study
was aimed to analyze in pregnant rats, in rats after delivery, or in rats after
receiving progesterone those behavioral changes displayed in the FST. We
hypothesize that pregnancy and progesterone will produce antidepressant-like
effects in rats forced to swim. Therefore, pregnant rats (14th, 17th, and 20th
days), or rats after delivery (3rd, and 7th days) were tested in the FST.
Ovariectomized rats receiving saline (0.9%; i.p.), clomipramine (1.25 mg/kg;
i.p.), or desipramine (2.14 mg/kg; i.p.) for 28 days were also tested in the
FST. In a second series of experiments, ovariectomized rats receiving vehicle or
progesterone (0.5 mg/kg; or 2.0 mg/kg; sc.) were tested in the FST. Locomotion
was evaluated in the open field test. Results showed that in the FST: 1)
pregnancy (P < 0.05), or progesterone (P < 0.05), or desipramine (P < 0.05),
reduced immobility by increasing climbing; 2) clomipramine (P < 0.05) reduced
immobility by increasing swimming; 3) rats tested after delivery displayed
similar behavior than control rats. A lower locomotion was observed only at the
end of pregnancy. In conclusion, results suggest that during pregnancy, a
reproductive process characterized by its high levels of progesterone,
antidepressant-like effects can be found.

Arch Med Res 1999 Jul-Aug;30(4):286-9
Progesterone reduces immobility in rats forced to swim.
Martinez-Mota L, Contreras CM, Saavedra M.
Laboratorio de Neurofarmacologia, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz,
Mexico.
BACKGROUND: Among its behavioral actions, progesterone reduces anxiety in
several species including humans; however, any antidepressant-like properties
remain to be explored. METHODS: In the present study, Wistar rats received
injections (i.p.) of progesterone (0.20-3.0 mg/kg) 24 and 2 h before being
submitted to the forced swim, a test in which antidepressants regularly reduce
immobility and exert few or no actions on locomotor activity. In order to
discard the cumulative effects of progesterone and a possible effect from the
repetition of the swimming test, all animals received one of several
progesterone doses in a different sequence following a completely randomized
experimental intrasubject design. RESULTS: Ovariectomy did not modify immobility
in the forced swim test as compared to control tests practiced before surgery. A
dose of 0.80 mg/kg strongly reduced the total time of immobility in forced swim
test (p < 0.001), but did not modify locomotor activity. In a drug-free control
test applied 1 week after the last injection of progesterone, immobility
returned to the higher values observed in the control tests. CONCLUSIONS: From
these results, it is concluded that progesterone may possess some
anti-depressant-like activity.

Anyway, I stopped taking the it for a bit and my anxiety returned but upon restarting, really, I feel like a totally different person. However I wonder if it applies to guys...

 

[DaveFoster]

Get bloodwork done to see how your thyroid is functioning. The minimum should be: TSH, Total Cholesterol and Prolactin.

Do whatever you can to lower estrogen and prolactin and serotonin.

For men, the recipe for social freedom is physical strength (i.e. working out with weights) and team sports (i.e. using your strength/abilities, along with other men, for a particular goal).

If you do the above for 90 days you will emerge, quite literally, a different person with all the social freedom you could want.

+1 Particularly serotonin. I think of serotonin as the anti-social hormone, estrogen as the anthithesis of physical strength and vitality, and prolactin as nature's numbing agent for male conquest. (You can't be TOO genetically successful after all, where would the diversity be? Atilla the Hun is an exception.)

 

[Integral]

Interesting discussion here! Thought I'd chime in....

Though it's quite perplexing to some, I had, in the past, quite a serious case of social anxiety. It began with depression when I was younger (~17), which morphed into anxiety as the years went on, until I got a full-on case of social anxiety at 22. For some back story, please go on my profile and search for a thread I started entitled 'Peating Success' or something of that nature. It was very bad. Lots of people noticed something was going on with me. I can still recall a very painful moment when, at a nightclub, my friends approached me in the foyer and told me I had to go home and that I was seriously ill with social anxiety. They told me I needed to get help. Unbeknowst to them at the time, I was already seeing a psychiatrist, but it was nonetheless painful and I felt like at that moment I was pretty much on my own at Uni....

Anyway, I'm 24 now and have been free from illness for 2 years and since starting Peating earlier this year, my health has come on leaps and bounds and I am doing fantastic. I am in general a very able, confident, well-ballanced and happy person now, have been for ages too. I have a great, meaningful, fulfilling life and very productive. I enjoy my life a lot, and am very thankful for it. There are now no signs of my ever having been depressed or anxious. I am, in effect, a different human being.

How did I get over my depression & anxiety?

Well in the first instance, given that I was incredibly ill and had to withdraw from University on mental health grounds, I took medication as my Uni's mental health advisor referred me to a psychiatrist. The medications, over time, did make me feel more ballanced and took away the brunt of the debilitating effects of the illness during the 'acute' phase of illness. The medications were an anti-depressant and an anti-psychotic. There were side-effects, side-effects which pretty much remained for the entire course of taking the meds (1.5 years) of insomnia and quite annoying cognitive difficulties (apathy and very strained, static thinking). Notwithstanding, the medications did allow me to get functional again and seemed to open up a space where I could do the more meaningful healing work to take away a lot of the underlying neuroticism and unhelpful beliefs I held which I believe contributed to my former illness alongside my body being in starvation mode at the time.

Eating a Peat-style diet and working with a great local practitioner via Skype since March of this year (2015) further allowed a lot of healing work to take place, which eventually allowed me to gain a true sense of well-being and I feel constituted a real consciousness shift (as cliche as it sounds, I cannot otherwise describe it).

Thus, my healing was a combination of medications, diet, and a lot of spiritual work which challenged my beliefs at the time of life and it's purpose. Yet, I do feel as if each person is incredibly unique and must be treated on that basis. Regarding medications, from the evidence I have seen, I think people can recover without medications. I was recently involved in a discussion with a former-therapist and anti-psychiatry advocate about the efficacy of medications for mental illness, and in light of the research he showed me, I was quite taken aback by the lack of evidence for these medications working. Moreover, I've now seen a number of case studies of people who recovered from mental illness without any drugs whatsoever. One interesting case is the treatment of schizophrenia and psychosis in Northern Finland using Open Dialogue, wherein even seriously insane individuals have been able to overcome their illness and lead productive, meaningful lives.

 

[answersfound]

Interesting discussion here! Thought I'd chime in....

Though it's quite perplexing to some, I had, in the past, quite a serious case of social anxiety. It began with depression when I was younger (~17), which morphed into anxiety as the years went on, until I got a full-on case of social anxiety at 22. For some back story, please go on my profile and search for a thread I started entitled 'Peating Success' or something of that nature. It was very bad. Lots of people noticed something was going on with me. I can still recall a very painful moment when, at a nightclub, my friends approached me in the foyer and told me I had to go home and that I was seriously ill with social anxiety. They told me I needed to get help. Unbeknowst to them at the time, I was already seeing a psychiatrist, but it was nonetheless painful and I felt like at that moment I was pretty much on my own at Uni....

Anyway, I'm 24 now and have been free from illness for 2 years and since starting Peating earlier this year, my health has come on leaps and bounds and I am doing fantastic. I am in general a very able, confident, well-ballanced and happy person now, have been for ages too. I have a great, meaningful, fulfilling life and very productive. I enjoy my life a lot, and am very thankful for it. There are now no signs of my ever having been depressed or anxious. I am, in effect, a different human being.

How did I get over my depression & anxiety?

Well in the first instance, given that I was incredibly ill and had to withdraw from University on mental health grounds, I took medication as my Uni's mental health advisor referred me to a psychiatrist. The medications, over time, did make me feel more ballanced and took away the brunt of the debilitating effects of the illness during the 'acute' phase of illness. The medications were an anti-depressant and an anti-psychotic. There were side-effects, side-effects which pretty much remained for the entire course of taking the meds (1.5 years) of insomnia and quite annoying cognitive difficulties (apathy and very strained, static thinking). Notwithstanding, the medications did allow me to get functional again and seemed to open up a space where I could do the more meaningful healing work to take away a lot of the underlying neuroticism and unhelpful beliefs I held which I believe contributed to my former illness alongside my body being in starvation mode at the time.

Eating a Peat-style diet and working with a great local practitioner via Skype since March of this year (2015) further allowed a lot of healing work to take place, which eventually allowed me to gain a true sense of well-being and I feel constituted a real consciousness shift (as cliche as it sounds, I cannot otherwise describe it).

Thus, my healing was a combination of medications, diet, and a lot of spiritual work which challenged my beliefs at the time of life and it's purpose. Yet, I do feel as if each person is incredibly unique and must be treated on that basis. Regarding medications, from the evidence I have seen, I think people can recover without medications. I was recently involved in a discussion with a former-therapist and anti-psychiatry advocate about the efficacy of medications for mental illness, and in light of the research he showed me, I was quite taken aback by the lack of evidence for these medications working. Moreover, I've now seen a number of case studies of people who recovered from mental illness without any drugs whatsoever. One interesting case is the treatment of schizophrenia and psychosis in Northern Finland using Open Dialogue, wherein even seriously insane individuals have been able to overcome their illness and lead productive, meaningful lives.

Fix your thyroid. Get your temperature to 98.6+ and your social anxiety will go away. Thyroid is responsible for expression. Social anxiety, in a way, is a protective mechanism, that suggests that your body is just not capable of meeting the demands of socializing. Take thyroid glandular and get your temp up. That's all you need to do.

 

[Integral]

post 111715

....Snipped my own post out.

Fix your thyroid. Get your temperature to 98.6+ and your social anxiety will go away. Thyroid is responsible for expression. Social anxiety, in a way, is a protective mechanism, that suggests that your body is just not capable of meeting the demands of socializing. Take thyroid glandular and get your temp up. That's all you need to do.

Interestingly enough, my temp is still a work in progress. It was 95F at the start of Peating, and is now, after months of work, 96.4F upon waking. I think supplementing with thyroid may be a good idea for me.

However...I rid myself of feelings of anxiety despite a very sub-optimal temp. I think that problematises a thyroid optimisation based solution to social anxiety somewhat? I went from very anxious to living with very normal levels of anxiety, and my temp effectively didn't change.

Notwithstanding, you touch on something very important - social anxiety and indeed phobias in general as protective mechanisms. I fully agree. The question then becomes how to release these phobias and make the body or mind feel safe when presented with a scenario which illicits a phobic/flight or flight response. This is where the more contemplative work comes in. I am interested in the application of Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) in unlodging these beliefs or traumas which bring on these adverse nervous system responses.

Cheers,
Integral.

 

[GreekDemiGod]

As someone who's tried meditation for more than a year, it's the biggest meme out there, a band-aid solution at most.

 

[Opioidus]

I have a philosophy that I live by, trust your gut. I always trust my gut. If someone says something and I feel humiliated, I don't blame myself for having a thin skin, I trust my gut feeling, and assume he actually meant to humiliate me and proceed with that assumption. This has never let me down.

The reason you, me and every other reasonable person doesn't like socializing these days is because, put simply, people generally suck! They're vicious little creatures waiting for an opportunity to tear at your throat. At least this seems to be the case in big cities.

Unlike you I'm very sociale, outgoing, extroverted, even loud and slightly obnoxious. I love talking to strangers and befriending them. I love attracting attention to myself. I'm good at small talk and I actually enjoy it too. Most people like me, and remember my name long after we meet.

And yet, even I don't have any friends! How can you? The first time your best friend stabs you in the **** and steals your customer and takes your commission, you wash your hands of friends. It's all crap. Everywhere. Things are getting worse and worse every year. Everyone I meet is eager to kick you down in order to stand on your head and appear bigger. Learn to enjoy solitude.

 

[hiconscience]

You "help" some chick in the gym with her squat form. At least it will be fun. Just keep in mind the 80-20 rule. After you look good (not being fat, being big and muscular) you don't need to get 6pack to look good.

Just imagine how uncomfortable the girl is, I think females have 100x the anxiety of guys naturally, probably evolving from being weaker and general survival, but ya "help" some girl just trying to work out.

 

[Frankdee20]

Kava is one of the best anxiety lowering herbs out there; Alcohol makes me rather talkative and social. That is why I drink, I’m too inhibited.