Abstract
Social phobia is a common anxiety disorder in which sufferers have a great fear of interaction with other people.
The video I think they think…overcoming social phobia, provides great insight into the difficulties and dilemmas that people with social phobia contend with on a constant basis. The video presents a comprehensive view of how a person with social phobia feels and about their personal experiences. The program also maintains that although the disorder can be overwhelming, there is hope of recovery. It strives to represent all components pertaining to the disorder and further explains the process of recovery. The video is divided into segments, including: what is social phobia and how it is treated; monitoring anxiety; cognitive-behaviour therapy, realistic thinking; graded exposure; groups; managing general anxiety, meditation; the role of medication; and setbacks.
This coverage includes insights of both people with social phobia and medical experts working in the field, and aids the individual to understand their anxiety disorder, identify the challenges, understand the thinking operation that is occurring, and finally provides tools and techniques that can assist individuals in dealing with and monitoring their anxiety.
The strengths of this particular video are:
The accurate descriptions of ‘What is Social Phobia’ and the symptoms that relate to this disorder.
The suggestion of maintaining a journal. This technique aids people with the disorder to monitor and keep constant records of which situations are anxiety provoking and to what the degree the anxiety is affecting their behaviour. This exercise is also seen to allow the individual to gain good insight into the thoughts and motives that stimulate and bring about anxiety.
The description of cognitive-behavioural therapy assisted in the understanding of how thoughts can be automatic and inflexible and how this process can cause a habitual thought pattern that in the case of people with anxiety can be negative, non-effective and destructive. The point made regarding thoughts, that ‘What we think about a situation can determine how we feel’ was the greatest strength, finally revealing for some the essence of their disorder and identifying and stressing the importance and relevance of cognitive-behavioural therapy.
Comments made regarding graded exposure were well received by members of our organisation, for the video was actually discussing strategies and techniques that could be implemented in order to confront the issues of anxiety and social phobia.
Further, the discussion of meditation and medication allowed and encouraged different options that individuals with the disorder can look into and develop, encouraging them to form their own opinions about what course of action would best suit them.
The section discussing setbacks was also well received, for individuals felt that it was important for people to realise that setbacks are part of the recovery process, and that, should they occur, this was not a reason to give up hope and abandon the task of overcoming anxiety.
In addition to the positive strengths of the program, it was good to see that the program was not merely designed to benefit people with social phobia but also provides valuable information to their family members and friends. Often it is difficult for these ‘non-sufferers’ to fully comprehend and appreciate the difficulties those experiencing social phobia must contend with. The video aids these individuals in developing their own understanding of the disorder which allows for better communication and discussion.
In conclusion, the video I think they think…overcoming social phobia was excellent and warmly accepted by members of our organisation. They found the program to be simple and clearly defined. They stated that the video assisted in reinforcing the fact that social phobia and anxiety could be mastered via strategies they were capable of implementing.
Anxiety Disorders Association of Victoria Melbourne, Australia