The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Social Anxiety and Shyness

The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Social Anxiety and Shyness

by Jan E. Fleming, Nancy Kocovski

 

I’ve read some books about psychology for a few months until now. I want to read other general psychology books more, but I decided to read some special fields that I’d like to know about. I have a “social anxiety disorder(SAD)” and that’s why I searched some books about it. This is the first book I start with in order to overcome my disease. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the Korean translation of this book. It took me several weeks to read through this book.

 

Outright avoidance involves staying away from your feared social situations. ... However, this approach to avoiding social danger can put you in the way of a different, more insidious type of danger : the danger of a life not lived.

<The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Social Anxiety and Shyness>

 

The examples of other safety behaviors that I have are

to hide emotions by keeping a neutral face,

to go with a “safe” friend, talk to “safe” people, or help out in the kitchen(or engage in other helping activities to avoid conversations),

to avoid “awkward” pauses,

and to conceal my opinions.

 

 

For all of the time and effort that goes into pursuing safety, there is less opportunity to do other things that are important to you : perhaps getting to know people, trying out new foods, and contributing your opinions, to name a few.

<The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Social Anxiety and Shyness>

 

And if I do safety behaviors, I would be told that I’m hard to get to know. That’s the cost of the safety behaviors.

 

 

When you “drop the rope” in your struggle with anxious thoughts and feelings, when you are willing to have your experience as it is, you are freed up to live the life you really want.

<The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Social Anxiety and Shyness>

 

When your willingness switch is flipped on, you are completely open to your experience, allowing it to be exactly as it is.

<The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Social Anxiety and Shyness>

 

Pay mindful attention: opening up and making room for all aspects of your experience, and letting go of thoughts about it and urges to change it and control it.

<The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Social Anxiety and Shyness>

 

I think the term ‘mindfulness’ means letting go of urges to change and control the situation. The more I practice this mindfulness, the more I can put my sense of control down.

 

 

Keep in mind that defusion strategies are not intended to belittle or ridicule your thought processes; they are meant to help you get some distance from your thoughts, notice the process of thinking, and liberate yourself from the tyranny of the fused mind.

<The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Social Anxiety and Shyness>

 

This book is mainly focused on SAD and some treatment strategies including mindfulness and Acceptance and Comitment Therapy. This book became the book I should read more than a few times at least. I recommend this book for those who have SAD or are shy.