I would recommend it to any social anxiety (SA) sufferer. This book is for anyone with SA, or for anyone wanting to understand and help an SA friend or relative.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2311 in Books
• Published on: 1999-05-27
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy treats emotional disorders by changing negative patterns of thought. Gillian Butler, a consultant clinical psychologist and Fellow of the British Psychological Society, has condensed into this well-written, very readable book effective techniques for overcoming conditions such as panic attacks, depression, anxiety and addictions. Everyone who has ever felt disempowered by their embarrassment or lack of confidence, will benefit from reading this book--understanding your emotions means that it is possible to effectively manage and accept them.

The book is divided into three sections: Part One which explains social anxiety, the role of this fear, its origins and what actually happens when social anxiety strikes; Part Two gives a complete practical guide to overcoming these feelings, changing thinking patterns, reducing self- consciousness and building confidence; Part Three gives some "optional extras" such as explaining the legacy of being bullied and about how to learn to relax.

This book is engrossing and intriguing and a very worthy addition to the bookshelf of those with an interest in human behaviour and social interaction. It will help to treat and defeat very crippling, entrenched problems right through to the usual, mild feelings of discomfort and social shyness experienced by everyone at some time--this book can be recommended for people who want to improve their networking and business interaction skills also. --Alison Jardine

Synopsis
Through the use of real-life examples and cognitive behavioural techniques, this book attempts to help the reader unlearn bad habits and replace them with healthy ones. It outlines the nature of shyness, the symptoms and possible causes and explains how to deal with upsetting thoughts, overcome avoidance and manage symptoms of anxiety through relaxation, distraction and panic management.

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Customer Reviews

So so
This book is not bad, but it's not very good either. The book is detailed and gives a good description of what social anxiety and shyness is and how it develops and continues, but it is missing something. In some parts the book is painfully dry. I think I'll need to see a professional to help me overcome my problems.

Excellent CBT book
Very well structured in terms of explaining what social anxiety is, how it originates and how to begin dealing with it. There is also a chapter at the end on Bullying. I'd recommend this to anyone with SA and also the other books in the series on self esteem and depression - Life changing stuff, A Must for anyone with Social Anxiety.

Didn't work for me...
I had high hopes for this book after reading the glowing reviews on here, but it didn't live up to my expectations. It is very good at describing what it's like to suffer social anxiety and I found myself thinking 'that's me, I feel like that' as I read. However I couldn't get to grips with the solutions suggested e.g. if you are feeling self conscious, you can solve it by deciding not to. It takes a look on the bright side approach and suggests you think about the flip side of situations e.g. everyone's looking at me versus actually, noone is looking at you. The author also states 'being bullied can have lasting effects' and I found myself thinking 'yes, I know that thanks, but what can I do about it?'. This book was good at describing how it feels to be socially anxious but didn't help me overcome the horrible stomach churning tension and desire to run away from such encounters, nor the constant worrying and reflecting that goes with having social anxiety.