[Ensorceled]

> > Basically, he went to a therapist and they told him to confront himself with increasingly uncomfortable social situations. It was horrible but he managed to do it.

> This does sound like confirmation bias, because you hear about the success stories where people successfully confront their issues and overcome them, not the people who fail miserably until they can no longer keep trying that approach. You also don't hear about people who fail and feel worse because the only things they've heard are success stories and that make them feel worse.

Well ... exposure therapy is an actual therapeutic technique that is used to successfully treat social anxiety and is usually one of the first methods tried, often as part of a CBT process, so let's not all jump on the "confirmation bias" band wagon. An anecdote is not data but an anecdote doesn't magically somehow prove the opposite.

As a fellow SAD sufferer, I'm trying not to be too harsh, but you clearly have a serious version of SAD, so applying your situation to this self-help site is a bit over the top. Yes, this may not work for a particular individual, but if you are having breakdowns you shouldn't be self managing your disorder anyway.

[KronisLV]

> As a fellow SAD sufferer, I'm trying not to be too harsh, but you clearly have a serious version of SAD, so applying your situation to this self-help site is a bit over the top.

I'm just trying to suggest that consulting a professional is probably a good idea - since someone running a platform like this won't be able to help with all of the cases. I still think the challenge is an okay idea for most people who need a gentle push, but won't work for everyone.

Just putting that out there, possibly "survivorship bias" is too strong of a suggestion to use here, that's a fair point, my bad. It's not that the method itself is bad, just that people are different and specialists should help with identifying what works the best.

Edit: survivorship bias, not confirmation bias

[Ensorceled]

> I'm just trying to suggest that consulting a professional is probably a good idea

I personally think everybody should go through at least one round of therapy, so I'm on board.

> It's not that the method itself is bad, just that people are different and specialists should help with identifying what works the best.

Unfortunately, not everyone has access to competent, affordable professionals in this area. Self help is often all that's available or all that some one is willing to do.

[CoastalCoder]

I think you and the GP both make good points.

It seems like what we're really missing here is solid data about the success rate for the author's approach.

[going_north]

Another important point is that exposure therapy needs to be tailored to your particular level of discomfort. If you do too little it clearly won't have any effect, but on the other hand, if you go too hard it can make your anxiety or phobias worse.

[Ensorceled]

Yeah, I signed up to see the progression. I presume that a ramp up may start off too easy for some people but will eventually start challenging without going overboard.

[Ensorceled]

Edit, got the first stage by email ... yeah it starts off really easy.

[Ensorceled]

Exposure therapy is a proven technique for social anxiety and is the first line treatment. As long as the ramp up in exposure is gradual and doesn’t start off with “go to an extremely social event with a lot of complete strangers” on day one it shouldn’t be a problem and should be helpful for a lot of people.

I hope the program has disclaimers and warnings about when to seek professional help.

I feel for the original commenter, they seem to have traumatized themselves pretty badly, but I just don’t see how their experience maps onto this website at all.