Status Updates From Beyond Shyness: How to Conq...

You can skip chapter 3 if your parents didn't "enable" your social anxiety. Once again, Berent pretends any kind of behavior he deems dysfunctional is due to social anxiety. Under adolescent warning signs for social anxiety, he includes sexual identity issues (yikes). So far there hasn't been anything interesting as far creating a plan to self-treat one's anxieties. Also the book is padded with unnecessary anecdotes.

I'm having a hard time reading this book. Didn't even touch it yesterday. I feel a lot of the book is filler anecdotes, and after reading some of the stories, I think this guy over-diagnoses SAD. One guy was diagnosed SAD because he couldn't dump his girlfriend (he and the author thought she was trashy). The diagnosis spectrum which goes from high functioning to low functioning is IMO too wide. I might DNF this book.

Just started. Already think that the book is out of date in its information. Using twin studies, scientists have shown that social anxiety disorder has a genetic component, while the book strongly says that the behavior is learned. There is also a moralistic tone through chapter one, as if you didn't manage to cope with your shyness, then there is something morally wrong with you. Not taking responsibility. Yikes!

It’s gotten into some really useful techniques and advice that I’ve written down and plan to refer back to and practice regularly. This is exactly what I wanted from this book; tools and techniques to use in my daily life. Have to finish this chapter on social skills tomorrow. The next topic is conversing; looking forward for more tips in that area.

Thank goodness we’ve left behind the upsetting and offensive things, and have gotten into useful subjects for those directly suffering with SA, and techniques to use to control anxiety, manage stress, and relax. This chapter was pretty long, and I couldn’t finish it tonight. Looking forward to fishing it to tomorrow and moving on to other topics.

June 17, pg 74. Still more insulting, upsetting, and off-putting things! Just read the chapter on the parents’ role in social avoidance, which wasn’t helpful to me, as I’m not a parent. Hope it gets back to helping those actually suffering with SA.

June 16, pg 49. Some stuff fit me and was relatable; there’s been some helpful info & encouraging bits; some things were insulting/off-putting. Not looking forward to more things like that, but I’m ready for helpful, useful tips I can put into practice.

June 15, pg 22. Whoa, the print is so small &there’s so many words on the page. I’m feeling pretty overwhelmed!

May 30

May 29

May 28

May 26 Some parts were highly insulting and upset me, bcuz they weren't true. The last chapter was a lot of work, and I filled 2 pages with the assignments.

May 25 So much helpful information.

May 24 therapy day, so didn't get much reading in.

May 23 It was a help as soon as it started. It's proven useful already and I can't wait to read on.