Social anxiety disorder - searching for the elusive cure
In the past, my main goal had been to find a social anxiety cure – something that would transform me into a non-shy, outgoing, and likeable person. Somewhere, there was a cure for my ailment - a treatment that I had not stumbled across yet - a breakthrough procedure or medication that would eventually surface and save the day – for years I believed this was a real possibility.
Nothing seemed to help, and the harder I tried, the more difficult it seemed. What eventually changed my outlook was re-examining the way I approached things.
I had a two dimensional outlook – a black-and-white approach. For years, my reasoning was that if I had social anxiety disorder (which I certainly did), then there had to be a cure out there. I simply needed to find this elusive and magical solution to my problems. I imagined that this miracle cure would be complete and permanent – shy and introverted one day, outgoing and confident the next.
Looking back now, I realize that hoping such a solution existed was just human nature. I (and I’m sure most people) always looked for the easiest way to accomplish things. It’s not that I was lazy, but that I tried to avoid the pain that I knew would be involved with the reality of trying to improve this condition. Deep down, I knew that there was no miracle cure, no instant transformation of personality, but I always held out hope.
I discovered that, although the hope for an easy solution gave me a reason to get up in the morning and press on with life, it was not reality. Reality would be so much more painful, and require so much more effort.
I decided that I had two choices: I could continue living with false hope - looking for the quick, easy, painless way to beat this, or I could start thinking realistically, roll up my sleeves, and begin to make some real progress.
Real plans and real progress would be painstakingly tedious and much less glamorous than the elusive “perfect cure,” but the greatest thing about real plans is that they are, indeed, real – they can produce real results. I needed to stop day-dreaming about a better life, and start creating it.
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