Synopses From the Synapses

     Hello everyone. Bill has been very busy lately so we, Bill's synapses, are going to write this blog to keep you up to date on the latest developments. We are excited (some may say we are "fired up" :)) to bring the latest and greatest news going on in Bill's brain. Of course if you knew Bill as well as we do you would realize that 90% of Bills thoughts are too risque to post here (wink wink).

     Have you ever found the need to use CliffNotes or SparkNotes? Of course we synapses prefer "Spark"Notes (ha ha ha, get it "Spark"Notes / synapse?). But seriously, sometimes you don't have the time to read the full version of a blog post but you want to know what is going on. But does CliffNotes or SparkNotes create a synopsis of each blog post? No. So we synapses got together (get it, got together?, I just crack myself up sometimes) and wrote a synopsis of each and every blog post in Bill's blog. So if you haven't seen this blog before, just read the synopses section (link to synopses sections are in the Pages section on the right) and get up to speed in no time. Missed a couple of posts? Don't have time to catch up? No problem. Read the synopses of those posts that you missed.

     Hopefully this will help get more people to this blog as the most important aspect is to spread the word about Social Anxiety Disorder. Please inform your family and friends about this blog so that they will gain an awareness of SAD and its devistating effects on its victims.

     Warning: The synopses do not contain the delightful humor that Bill adds to his blog posts and therefore may cause drowsiness. Please use caution when operating heavy machinery while reading the synopses. Better yet, question your judgement about reading the synopses and operating heavy machinery at the same time. Seriously, who would do that? *

     Bill will return (hopefully soon) with additional information and stories as they relate to social anxiety disorder. Please stay tuned and check in from time to time to see what (if anything) Bill may or may not have done since the last time you checked in to see what (if anything) Bill may or may not have done ......

Peace,

Bill's Synapses

* A special thanks to synapse #33749120 for remembering to add the warning to prevent possible lawsuits

CBT and Me

     I've stated in a previous blog (Shy or Social Anxiety? 12/4/2011) that I felt that I am more shy than I am anxious at this time in my life.  I said that I felt as though I have more control over the anxiety than the anxiety has over me.  All of this is still true.  I've made great, maybe even amazing, strides through the decades I have dealt with SAD.  Most of what I have learned about how to deal with this devastating disorder has been done on my own through trial and error.  I have a beautiful family and have had a successful career which spans 30+ years in Information Technology.  I owe a great deal of credit for my successes to the support and understanding from family, friends and coworkers.  I could easily be content living out the rest of my life being the person I am today.

     Throughout the several weeks in December and January while I was not writing but rather reading about SAD, I realized that I can still move forward from where I am today.  In the last decade I have been taking medication to help control my anxiety.  When I first learned about SAD 10 years ago I did some research on the web but I did not dig as deeply as I should have.  I was under the impression that the intense anxiety was the result of a low serotonin level in the brain.  It seemed to me that medication was the best option for me.  While digging deeper into SAD I've discovered that neuropathways in the brain affect the serotonin levels and not the other way around.  Using CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) can change the neuropathways that your brain automatically uses and therefore will change the serotonin level in the brain.

     I don't think it is any secret based on the title of this posting, "CBT and Me", that I am planning to use CBT to change my life. "I'll bet there are a few dumb-dumbs out there that couldn't figure that out" interrupts Bill's negative voice.  Bill's inner positive voice responds "Hey negative voice, the point Bill is about to make is that you are no longer welcome in his life and he plans to silence you for good".  I am going to be using the audio therapy series "Overcoming Social Anxiety: Step by Step" found on the Social Anxiety Institute (SAI) website (you can find a link to this website in the column on the right under the heading "Additional Information About SAD and SM").

I'm Baaaaaack!

     Sorry for the extended absence.  I hope many of you will return to read and recommend this blog to others.  Due to a variety of reasons, blogging during these past 7 weeks hasn't worked well with my schedule.  But the show must go on and I will not abandon the mission I set out to accomplish.

We are pleased to interrupt this blog with some important news from UNIV (United Negative Internal Voices).  It has come to the attention of the "fine" voices at UNIV that this so called blog is nothing but a hoax.  We at UNIV have been investigating this Bill guy for quite some time and have concluded that he has no clue what he is talking about.  He is "an anarchist agitator spreading false propaganda in an attempt to lead the public into false beliefs about your internal negative voice as well as the belief that intense anxiety is not a good thing".  For your own safety and that of your loved ones, please do not read any more jibberish from this person.  Leave this site and never return!!!  You'll be pleased that you listened to the truth from your own internal negative voice and will forever remain indebted to us.

Shy or Social Anxiety?

     I must admit that I needed to do a little research on the topic at hand.  I had my own thoughts on what separated a shy person from a socially anxious person.  To me “shyness” was felt in the gut, to quote a cliche “butterflies in the stomach”.  A shy person may feel uncomfortable or nervous in social situations but they can face the situation and often times start to feel comfortable over time.  For me “social anxiety” has always been felt in my head in addition to the “butterflies” a shy person feels.  I always thought of it as “brain freeze”, not like what you get when you eat ice cream too fast.  In this case the brain freezes because there is so much the brain is trying to process that one can’t think straight. 

“Bill your heart rate has increased, your breathing is becoming faster and shallower, and you’re starting to shake.  Pull it together you don’t want to look scared because someone might approach you and ask you what is wrong.  How would you answer that, tell them you are scared?  That would make you look stupid.  Don’t look too confident and self-assured either because people will see that as an invitation to talk to you.  Don’t look too nonchalant either because people will think that you are stuck up or rude.  By the way do you know what the weather is like?  What if someone tries to make small talk with

The Great Debate

     Hello, I am Bill’s imaginative brain and voice. Bill has decided to take time off this week to spend time with his family. In place of his weekly blog I will be publishing the transcript of a recent debate between Bill’s inner negative and positive voices each of whom are vying to be named the Inner Voice of Choice.  The debate was held at the Imaginary Bill’s Brain Institute (IBBI) and moderated by Bill’s made up moderator Ms. Imagin Ary.

Ms. Ary: “Welcome candidates and thank you for participating in the IBBI debate. I am Ms. Imagin Ary your moderator for this debate. The rules and format of the debate were explained to each of you backstage. I have been told that Mr. Negative won the coin toss and elected to answer first”.

Ms. Ary: “Mr. Negative, please explain to our audience why you should be the Inner Voice of Choice for anyone suffering with Social Anxiety Disorder and/or Selective Mutism or for that matter why should you be the choice for anyone?”

Mr. Negative: “Thank you Ms. Ary and I would like to take this time to thank the IBBI for hosting this debate. I am always grateful when someone is willing to “Take a Chance on Me””.

Ms. Ary: “”Mamma Mia”, I can’t believe this happens every time. Mr. Negative you are confusing IBBI with ABBA (Actual Bill’s Brain Association)”

What are Social Anxiety and Selective Mutism?

     I found the following information about Social Anxiety at the Social Phobia / Social Anxiety Association (SP/SAA) website. This isn’t a definition but rather a description of what a Socially Anxious person goes though daily. Your homework challenge this week is to go to the SP/SAA website at http://www.socialphobia.org/, click on the “What is Social Anxiety?” link and read more about it.

“In public places, such as work, meetings, or shopping, people with social anxiety feel that everyone is watching, staring, and judging them (even though rationally they know this isn't true). The socially anxious person can't relax, "take it easy", and enjoy themselves in public. In fact, they can never fully relax when other people are around. It always feels like others are evaluating them, being critical of them, or "judging" them in some way. The person with social anxiety knows that people don't do this openly, of course, but they still feel the self-consciousness and judgment while they are in the other person's presence. It's sometimes impossible to let go, relax, and focus on anything else except the anxiety and fear. Because the anxiety is so very painful, it's much easier just to stay away from social situations and avoid other people altogether.”
---Thomas A. Richards, Ph.D., Psychologist

My Background

     "Bill, I have a great idea on how to get out of this blog thing that your positive voice has gotten you into. Tell everyone that your identity was stolen and you are just now finding out about this blog and you intend to shut it down" says Bill's negative inner voice. Bill's positive inner voice replies "Shut up and let the man speak for once".

     Before you can really understand the person writing this blog you will need a high level overview of my background. I am who I am today because I was who I was in the past. Well that didn't come out as cleverly philosophical as what it sounded like in my head. By writing about my background I can more effectively relate my life experiences to SAD/SM in future blogs and not have to repeat my background over and over, story after story after story. Future blogs would sound as if I'm repetitiously repeating myself over and over and over, again and again and again if I didn't start with some background information. In conclusion, below is my background information so that I don't have to keep repeating myself over and over and over again and again and again.

Welcome

     Welcome and Thank You for taking some of your time to read this blog.  This is a BIG undertaking for me.   If you read the review of my blog above you hopefully got a little chuckle out of it as that was the intent.  However, the idea for the reviews came from "reality".  As a socially anxious and selectively mute person I've never revealed my "true self" to anyone other than a small handful of close relatives and friends.  Throughout the process of putting this blog together my positive and negative inner voices have been battling it out.  So far the positive voice has persevered but the negative voice has slowed my progress down and is still active, trying to stop me from speaking out.  This is a typical struggle on a daily basis when dealing with social anxiety.