Social anxiety and its circularity

I've posted a few times before, each time a long essay post, but I figure it's really not that useful and the extra elaboration tended to distract from my main question. So I really have one basic question:

How do I seek treatment if I'm too scared to do so because of social anxiety?

Hi, zhandao. I guess what you can do is try your best to find the courage to do that one thing. I have some social anxiety too, but I don't know what your situation is like. I hope getting a little advice and support here will help you.

If you are too anxious to seek treatment, you can still try to "treat yourself." Start small. Think of a few possible situations you could put yourself in where you would have to socialize with others. Then pick the one that seems least threatening.

[quote=" How do I seek treatment if I'm too scared to do so because of social anxiety?[/quote]

Well from my experiance you could start by excercising or lifting weights daily. Also eating properly can help alot too. Doing both of these helped me so much in starting my recovery. It will boost your self confidence quite a bit....but you have to make sure to stick to it.

I found it quite hard to bring myself to see a doctor...but i can tell you it is the best thing you could ever do. I have been on Fluoxetine (Prozac) for 2 months now and my life has improved like you wouldnt believe. It was a rough first month as it takes a bit for the brain to adjust to the extra serotonin, it might even seem like it will be geting worse but do not stop taking it, be patient as its not an instant fix. This drug has the least side effects than the others so it would be a good place to start. Of course drugs effect people differently so just see what your doctor says. Good luck!.

Well, my parents went to a psychologist for me a couple months back and prescribed Zoloft for me. Coupled with the stress of being an engineering major and my allergies (which I later found are VERY severe), it made me feel nauseous and sick all the time, so I stopped very quickly. It may have had some effect, but then maybe I was just too distracted by the sickly feeling to be anxious.

Another reason I'm not going to try it again now is that I've been socially drinking with my friend's frat and I'm not sure SSRIs and alcohol mix that well. Don't take that as an example of me improving against my shyness though. The main reason I'm hanging out with them is because I've known this friend 4 years through high school. And it took me a couple weeks to get the nerve to talk to the others.

If you are too anxious to seek treatment, you can still try to "treat yourself." Start small. Think of a few possible situations you could put yourself in where you would have to socialize with others. Then pick the one that seems least threatening.

Thank you, I really appreciate this advice *most* the others. Not that this is "what I want to hear," but I always get cliche advice like "just do it!" or "have a friend sign you up to see a psych"... which, $#%^, I'm smart enough to have already considered in the first place. But to "start small" is IMO very good advice because it is reasonable in that it is it is much easier to accomplish while also giving real results in the end. To be honest, what I want to hear is "Here's an easy quick-fix!" since I'm an impatient bastard, but instead I will really try to keep this specific quoted piece of advice in mind.