Conquering Anxiety: Exposure Therapy
Hi everyone! I hope you are doing well. It is a new week and that means it is time for another post in the Conquering Anxiety series. Now comes the post as mentioned earlier on exposure therapy. So far we have been exploring how anxiety impacts our lives, reflecting on what things can be like if we can overcome it, learning about the cycle of anxiety, practicing tools that can help us while we confront our anxiety, and exploring the role of diet and exercise. These posts acted as a foundation for our post of the week so if you have not taken part in all those, please follow the order of the series.
Today we will talk about exposure therapy!
Why exposure therapy?
Exposure therapy is highly successful for people dealing with anxiety, with 60-90% of people reporting no or mild symptoms after treatment. Adding CBT, relaxation techniques, and other treatments can make it even more effective (Data taken from EBBP.org)
What is exposure therapy?
Simply put, it is a treatment method in which people are equipped with coping tools (like the ones we covered earlier) and asked to confront their fears. The trick however is to evaluate where you stand with your specific fear and just push a bit past that. For example, if you are terrified of driving and never touched your car after your accident or an unpleasant incident, start by just sitting in the car for 5-10 minutes, you should not drive it on a highway the first day because that is way past your comfort zone.
While getting out of the comfort zone is crucial it should be done within reason and with the support of coping tools so that the person benefits from the experience. So you are picking a battle that you can win and you are going in armed!
Here are key mistakes to avoid.
- Picking a task that is way beyond your current level (You will not go for a 10-mile run if you have never run in your life, similarly, we should build our tolerance to these challenging tasks, bit by bit)
- Going in with no coping tools (Coping tools help you stay in the moment and aid in regulating your nervous system)
- Not being consistent with your efforts. Pick something small but keep on working in the direction of conquering your anxiety, and make it a habit.
📺Watch a video on the exposure Hierarchy
Here is an example of what exposure hierarchy looks like.
Source: Stork, M. B. (n.d.). Exposure therapy for social anxiety: A practical guide to lasting change
Task for members
- Pick something you currently experience anxiety around and wish to conquer and create an exposure hierarchy for it based on the information shared both in the video and the image above. Share with us your steps and tell us what step can you take this week towards conquering your fear.
Task for listeners
- Share one resource on exposure therapy from a reputable source. Please make sure its total reading time or if its a video, its under 5 minutes.
- Respond to one member on this thread with encouragement and support.
Further Reading
Navigating the Comfort, Discomfort, and Panic Zones: A Guide to Growth
❗Disclaimer! Check with your therapist or other health care provider to see if exposure therapy is the right choice for you.
📌I am looking for users who have done some work on managing their anxiety and are open to sharing what worked for them with us. This will be included in our learning from others post. Please reach out in PMs if you would like to contribute to that post.
This post is part of the Conquering Anxiety series, you can find all posts of the series here.
@Hope
My therapist had me do exposure without cooing mechanisms. He said to just experience the discomfort.
P.S. I can do everything but 9 and 10. It is likely that I never will.
@Hope
My therapist had me do exposure without coping mechanisms. I was told to just experience the discomfort and try not to create stories to go with it.
P.S. I can do all of the challenges except 9 and 10. I doubt i ever will. I know no way of working up to this exposure. How do you gradually work you way to giving a speech without giving a speech?
@Gettingbettertoday
Maybe communicating that with therapist can help? and from my opinion maybe giving a speech in some smaller gatherings. Either way, keep up the good work💚
@daydreammemories
It needs to be people I don't know. I am not afraid to speak in front of friends.
How do I find a group of strangers of the correct size, Lets say its 4, that are willing to sit down for 10 min so a stranger can give a speech. I went to toast masters but they are all about pressuring people. I was asked repeatedly if I wanted to get up and speak even after I told them I was only there to get information. Extremely triggering.
@Gettingbettertoday I think the one here is just an example. You could make one that's more suited for you. Because I don't see an opportunity to give a speech at a wedding either or at a work group
Can you think of something that might be more realistic for you?
@mytwistedsoul\
If I were asked to speak at work the group would be 50 to 150 people. So your correct work is not an option.
I can't think of anything that is realistic or unrealistic. I don't see how I am expected to exposure.
@mytwistedsoul
If I were asked to speak at work the group would be 50 to 150 people. So your correct work is not an option.
I can't think of anything that is realistic or unrealistic. I don't see how I am expected to exposure.
@Gettingbettertoday Sorry. Tbh I'm having trouble with figuring out something too
@Hope
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlJy85EQrCI
I've been watching her videos for a while now and they've been quite handy.
@daydreammemories
I like Katie too.
@daydreammemories
I subscribed to her videos yesterday when watching the one given in our task. I hope to use her methods in my personal life not only as a listener here
@pamharley003
That's a good goal! :)
@Hope
Presenting something in a work environment:
I have the fear of being judged when I have to present something in a work environment. It is hard for me to present my portion of a work task to others in fear i not a voiceable person.
Ways to handle that:
make my presentation in a power point presentation and before presenting it do a mock presentation to a small group of friends who will give pointers are being able to do the task without my fear being seen.
Write my portion of a task on index card and to leave able room for answers given at the time of my talking.
Remember to use a calm breathing exercise when talking and to make eye contact and smile while speaking
@pamharley003
I completely understand that fear of presenting! Your voice is so important and it matters. The steps you've outlined are concrete steps that could certainly help you on your presentation path. You've got this!
@Hope Honestly, I feel like this task is very difficult for me. For picking out something that I experience anxiety around, I'd pick speaking to someone who's not too familiar or in front of many people. Like speaking in class, you know. It makes me very anxious, so I avoid it when I can. But sometimes I can't, like if the teacher specifically asks me to answer. When that happens, I usually get very scared but somehow manage to answer but it's usually not a good answer.
I wish I could do something about this. But I really can't think of any exposure hierarchy for this. Like whatever I could try to do, ask a doubt or answer a question, or say something, there's always this worrying about what everyone will think. I don't seem to be able to think of any smaller step I can take.
@exuberantBlackberry9105
Exposure therapy is one of the most challenging things out there. It absolutely can be hard but we are capable of doing hard things!
You have described that you are strengthening the anxiety cycle by avoiding things that make you anxious. But like you said, you can't escape all of them even if you try to.
Its scary to be judged but recently I came across a post where the speaker said one thing that helped him stop caring about what people thought was realizing he never knew what they were thinking, he had created these mean versions of people that always seem to be judging his every move but the reality is none of us can truly tell what others think and nor does it matter.
Of all the things that are absolutely scary for you right in terms of speaking in front of people. What seems the least scary?
@exuberantBlackberry9105
There's always a smaller step even if it doesn't seem like it'll make a difference. Feel free to message me and we can talk more and figure out what a good first step could be
@patientUnicorn3590 Maybe there is, but I don't know, and can't find one. And I cannot message you because I'm a teen and you're an adult who's not an ATL.
@Hope 1. Stand a 20 foot from the hill
2. each day move a few steps closer
3. stand 2 feet away for 5 minutes
4. sit 1 foot from the edge
5. each day more forward a few inches until sitting at the edge
6. sit at the edge for 5 minutes. Increase time there
7. stand at the edge
8. look down
9. repeat above steps with weed eater in tow
10. use weed eater
idk 😕 tbh I feel incredibly stupid for being afraid of a hill. And for bringing attention to it here
@mytwistedsoul
Everyone has fears that may be deemed stupid by the general public. It takes courage to own up to them. No shame in it
I like these steps, they seem well-balanced.
Do you have fear of hight in general or is it more hill-related? Like are you okay with stairs?
@Hope Thank you! I did put alot of thought into these steps
The fear of heights comes and goes if that makes sense. I'm ok with stairs. But the fear this time is based around this one hill in particular because I got hurt pretty bad falling down it
@mytwistedsoul those sound great! good luck on your journey \o/
@KateDoskocilova Thank you! 😊
@Hope
Share one resource on exposure therapy from a reputable source. Please make sure its total reading time or if it's a video, it's under 5 minutes.
"How to Use Gradual Exposure to Treat Anxiety" - https://ctrinstitute.com/blog/how-to-use-gradual-exposure-to-treat-anxiety/
@Hope I seen this last month and was meaning to get around to responding. Excuse me for the delay. For my task, I am choosing my fear of shopping in crowded places. I am the type that leaves when there are too many people. But guess what I did recently? I couldn't order these cute Stitch shoes on the Walmart app online because they didn't have my size. But I knew the store did and I really wanted this 1 thing. Normally, I will forfeit anything I want or need at times and just say forget it. But I told myself how bad do you want it? I ended up going IN Walmart in person through the auto side to run in and get the shoes. I went early enough there was not many people and I did not talk to anyone, but guess what? I got my shoes and did it on my own.