If you want to get 61 agoraphobic people to hate you, try telling 100 agoraphobics that the solution to their problem lies in intentionally doing the things they fear most. If you do it right, at least 61 of them will declare you incompetent and will, on some level, hate you.
Mission accomplished.
While at this point there is virtually no valid argument against the effectiveness of exposure based therapies in treating anxiety disorders, the idea of intentionally doing hard and/or scary things to get better remains a very hard sell.
In my experience with literally thousands of people suffering with various anxiety disorders, it is clear that humans will generally try just about anything before intentionally facing fear and discomfort.
Even when presented with the many rewards that await on the other side of fear, a person suffering with panic disorder (for example) will often strongly resist the idea of going toward fear as a potential path to recovery and the “normal” life they so desperately want.
To be sure, the drive to seek safety and comfort is strong in us. I can’t find fault with anyone for wanting to try easier and more gentle ways to solve a serious anxiety problem. Going toward the things we fear, even when we know intellectually that our fear is baseless and irrational, is not natural. We are generally wired to avoid discomfort, not invite it to dinner or see it as a tool. So when someone brings up the idea of facing anxiety triggering tasks and situations rather than running from them or avoiding them, it stands to reason that the reception would be less than warm.
Are exposure and exposure therapy scary? Yes, they are. Without spending too much time delving into the mechanics of intentionally experiencing fear in order to reveal it’s baseless nature (being afraid doesn’t always equal being unsafe), I will freely admit that exposure based therapies are hard work and involve being afraid as a matter of procedure. That being said, however, using exposure as a tool in anxiety disorder recovery is not a nightmare ride on an out of control roller-coaster.
A good exposure plan isn’t as scary as you might immediately think!
Tomorrow we’ll talk about how a good exposure is based on small steps and may be just a little easier to handle than you would expect.
Hey it’s Monday and that means that today at 2 PM Eastern I’ll do my “Recovery Monday” livestream on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. Come join in!
11. People Who Need Exposure Therapy, Hate Exposure Therapy