Thursday, April 12, 2007

The Pros and Cons of Using Drugs and Alcohol to Deal With Shyness

Are you shy? If you suffer from extreme shyness, you have probably wished there was a pill you could take that would make all your shyness just go away.

Researchers have discovered that some anti-depressant medications, particularly the kind called SSRI's (selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors), can help people who suffer from a condition called social anxiety disorder to become more sociable.

This class of drugs seems to help people who are socially anxious to turn down the excessive volume of their inner judgmental thoughts.

Is it a good idea to take a pill to make you friendlier? There are pros and cons to be considered when deciding whether to take a drug for social anxiety. The SSRI drugs can cause insomnia, weight gain, nervous agitation, and a loss of sexual desire, as well as many other less common side effects. These drugs can also be quite expensive.

Because the SSRI drugs are relatively new, it is not yet known what the long-term effects of this class of drugs may be. Some doctors are concerned that society is trying to medicate shyness which is a normal human condition.

Yet many shy people who are overwhelmed with negative feelings of anxiety when they are around others turn to these medications to deal with their social anxiety.

When using SSRI medications, the improvement in sociability only lasts as long as the drug is taken on a regular basis. When the drug is discontinued, the symptoms of shyness will likely reappear.

Using Illegal Drugs Or Alcohol To Cope With Shyness

Many people who are shy or who have a fear of being rejected by others, try to deal with their fears by getting drunk or taking illegal drugs whenever they are at a party or in a social situation. This can be a dangerous way to try to deal with shyness or a fear of social rejection.

Have you developed the habit of drinking lots of alcohol or using illegal drugs so that you can relax around others and just let loose? Getting very drunk or stoned at parties so that you overcome your sensations of feeling anxious is very common with people who feel inadequate or shy.

There are many dangers with this approach, and it does not lead to any positive solutions.

You won't be at your best when you are intoxicated, and the people that you meet when you are drunk or stoned will only get to know your intoxicated self, not your real self. By abusing alcohol or drugs you also increase the risk of other negative outcomes such as getting into arguments and fights, and having serious accidents.

One danger of course is that you can become physically and psychologically addicted to drugs or alcohol. Eventually the addiction can cause even more serious problems in your life than the problems you started out with. If you rely on drugs and alcohol to get the courage to deal with other people, you will never develop the social and emotional skills needed to make real emotional connections to others.

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Comments:
medicine can be helpful depending on your level of shyness. medicine should be used with therapy. therapy should teach you new behaviors that you can try out. if the medicine relaxes you to do this then it is fine. however, medicine should not be a permanent solution. if you learn new behaviors you can continue these behaviors once you are off medicine.

alcohol should not be considered for shyness. alcohol can lead to addiction which is far worse than shyness.
 
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