This thread is for people to share natural / alternative help for Social Anxiety (also known as Social Phobia). Social Anxiety also sometimes turns into Agoraphobia, so discussions on that are welcome here as well.

Please post any good books, alternative treatments, therapies or other resources that have been helpful to you here on this thread!

If you have social anxiety, be sire to say "Hi" as well!

OK I'll start, Hi! My name is Silvia and I have struggled with Social Anxiety disorder for years.

Here is my first resource to share with you-- Social Anxiety Anonymous.

Here is why they are definitely an alternative (holistic / natural) approach to dealing with social anxiety / social phobia--

Usually Social Anxiety Disorder (also known as Social Phobia or extreme shyness) is treated either with medication or intensive C.B.T. (cognitive behavioral therapy), medications can have a lot of side effects, and although C.B.T. does help a percentage of people with overcoming social anxiety, it doesn't help everybody.

As an alternative, I just wanted to share that Social Anxiety Anonymous, offers free help for Social Anxiety disorder in the form of learning about mediTation, visualizations (also called "dream work", which is re-imagining your life to create a detailed vision of what you truly want), 12 Step spirituality and more, all of which work together holistically to aid in recovery from social anxiety disorder.

The entire program is free and volunteer run, and it is widely available in the Nevada area (and across the USA and also other countries as well), they also provide is also free online literature, "Twelve Gentle Steps to Overcoming Social Anxiety".

OK so that's one resource, feel free to share your own with us as well!

There's some good threads in our Mental Health Forum regarding stress and anxiety. Here's one using Choline.....

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"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." ~Immanual Kant~

Thanks KindtoCreatures!

That's amazing.

I never knew that! I need to learn more about nutrition.

I know a lot of people in this modern world don't eat as well as they could (including me).

Here's an article about GABA, a neurotransmitter that affects anxiety. The article tells how to increase GABA levels but I think you can also take GABA directly.

Diet has everything to do with mood!
https://naturalmedicine.suite101.com/...eanine_vs_gaba

and here:
https://naturalmedicine.suite101.com/...rk_for_anxiety

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Just an idea I am throwing in the air...someone might want to get checked for toxoplasmosis: Toxoplasma IgG and IgM when dealing with anxiety. I am positive for both and seem to be getting help when killing the beast (see MMS). Toxo is changing brain chemistry and affecting CNS. Also hormonal imbalance can cause anxiety.

Hmm.. lately ive been paranoid about parasites/etc.. after watching Monster Inside Me .. lol..

But my recent blood tests showed elevated Gamma Globulins.. dunno if it was raised IgM or what.. and ive had a lot of anxiety.. how did you get diagnosed with that? what are your symptoms?

when i was dealing with social anxiety i would just wait till my family was planning a trip up north or i went to somewhere at least 50 miles away from where i live (so no one i know is there)
and just wait for a time when there are tons of people in one area in a town or something and start doing something stupid, like wildly dancing and flailing around. (they are complete strangers so its not like it matters what they think, plus its fun and enjoyable for them to watch) after you do something like that you often will start laughing uncontrollably out of disbelief you actually did that.

It helped me immensely to just feel more comfortable around strangers and in social situations.

Try it.

I used to be socially shy and I listened to lots of subliminals to over come it - took about 2-3 months to fully notice the effects but it worked for me eventually.

also, generally being healthy and having good levels of exercise can make you feel more like wanting to be social and friendly - this boosts positive chemicals/endorphins in the brain which helps you think more positively and optimistically

the final thing is hyper positive thinking. This really helped me to be positive and get over social anxiety