Exposure therapy doesn't work, or does it?

CriminallyVulgar wrote: Going somewhere and working on a puzzle or watching tv isn't really a social interaction. It always makes it easier when I'm in a public place and I can do something like read a newspaper, but the point of that is avoiding social interaction rather than encouraging it.

You're right - social interaction is dynamic and watching TV or reading the newspaper in a public place aren't social interaction. I didn't mean to suggest otherwise.

I was trying to imagine how one take a public place and control some of the variables and make them closer to the same for each visit. Assume every Saturday around noon, you go to the same park, sit on the same bench (or the closest unoccupied bench to that one), eat a sack lunch or drink a coffee, and work on the crossword puzzle in the daily newspaper for 60-90 minutes, then you leave. My premise is that you will eventually notice that there are some people you recognize from other visits. It might be people who also go to the park to read, or to walk a dog, or take a child for some activity time. You may become recognized by them as the person they see at the park on Saturdays. When you recognize someone else as frequenting this park on Saturdays, they become closer to the routine and not one of the variables. Wouldn't it be easier to talk to one of these people, whether they start a conversation, or you do, than to someone you have never seen before in an unfamiliar setting?

In a situation like that I think it would actually be harder to talk to them if their presence is part of your routine. I would be afraid that I would say something stupid, and then never be able to go to the park again.

I know, there is no winning with me.

I can't see this working out for me. Being exposed to social contact feels like it would be a nightmare for me. If anything, it would make me worse. It seems that with every criticism I have, the more I back up from society and put the blame on myself and everyone around me.

I begun with exposure Therapy three months ago and It´s working out me. I fell better each time, although I have to confess there are sometimes bad moments, that´s the ime when my therapist help me. For example, now I´m a bit stopped, some steps are more difficult to overcome than others, but I have hopefull.
I did many sorts of therapies in the past, but I think exposure therapy is the best for me.

Good luck!

This works well.

It does?

I'm not sure what professionally prescribed exposure therapy is like, but I find that actively trying to do more things only helps if you have some way of dealing with the stress that accompanies it. I know I have put too much on my plate and then had complete breakdowns because I couldn't handle all of the stimulation. Then, if you isolate yourself again after the breakdown, you're at square one again.