Again such great content and point of viewing things. Could swear i be functioning whole lot more differently from now on. Omg again threat monitoring))) rumination worry and self directed attention like obsessed. That's like a proof proof why to be mindful.

for me toxic shame is definitely the root of my social anxiety, my social anxiety started to resolve since i have started to work on my toxic shame. i would like to remind that toxic shame is not always treated by going to past events, it is also about discovering your embedded negative beliefs about yourself, when ones toxic shame is really intense, they have a lot to hide, and if you have things which youve hidden even from yourself, it becomes impossible to expose yourself to society. i think this is the path which is working for me

@socialanxietyonline

3 ай бұрын

That's great! I'm happy your approach is working for you. Would you say you have social anxiety or social anxiety disorder? I.e. I do believe bad experiences and trauma make us vulnerable to social anxiety, and can create low-level social anxiety. But I believe for this to go into severe social anxiety disorder, where someone can barely leave the house anymore and function properly, it is usually accompanied by intense levels of worry, rumination and threat monitoring in response to any negative experiences someone has had. So in this sense, I believe maybe a more accurate statement on my end would be that bad experiences as well as internalized shame can create social anxiety. But for this to reach clinical levels (according to psychiatric classification), it probably requires what Adrian Wells and co. have identified as the CAS (Cognitive Attentional Syndrome), which is the presence and interplay of heightened levels of worry, rumination, threat monitoring and similar coping behaviors that backfire. Also, when worry, rumination and threat monitoring are out of hand, this in itself creates shame, low self-esteem and negative beliefs about oneself. So often the shame is the result of these maladaptive metacognitive processes, creating a vicious cycle where shame leads to worry, rumination and threat monitoring, which leads to more shame, which leads to more worry, rumination and threat monitoring and so forth. At some point, when these levels of worry and rumination are too high, it might be hard to reduce shame just by working on the shame itself. It usually requires breaking the cycle of worry, rumination and threat monitoring, which then in return makes the shame go away.

@IP00ding

Ай бұрын

@@socialanxietyonline but my thing is, what is all this worry and rumination and threat monitoring about - it is usually about protecting yourself from being shamed, a fear of being shamed, mostly because it is internalized and there isn't any breathing room from it. For someone with toxic shame there simply doesn't exist any belief that they can be okay even if they do feel shame and they do embarrass themselves, and so this heightened level of threat detection and rumination still surely comes from the internalized shame - their nervous system is completely dysregulated and in social events they find control and find that regulation by being hyper aware of all the ways they are show casing their worthlessness, so they can do their best to cover it up - if they didn't believe they were worthless, if they didn't have toxic internalized shame, they'd be able to regulate their nervous system in a healthy way and wouldn't ruminate so much. so my point/rebuttal is, where does this heightened level of rumination and threat detection come from, if not stemming from a chronically insecure sense of self acceptance/worth - you say that for regular social anxiety this internalized shame can be the cause of the social anxiety, but for clinical levels of anxiety to the point where it becomes a disorder, it is the heightened level of rumination etc etc - why does the cause change when the severity changes? Can't a level of social anxiety that reaches levels of a disorder be the same reason that causes regular social anxiety, but just on a deeper level, meaning the more shame you have internalized the more social anxiety you will therefore have, and depending on how deep that shame goes will change whether it is just anxiety, or an anxiety disorder?

Thank you so much! I have been struggeling with social anxiety all my life (i'm 50) and recently i discovered that the cause might be toxic shame. But your explanation makes so much sense! I hope more people will see your video, this is very helpful! ❤

@socialanxietyonline

5 ай бұрын

Thanks so much for the comment Mariska. What helped me overcome social anxiety more than anything else was MCT (Metacognithve Therapy), along with some things I've learned myself. It was a tough struggle, but knowing what I know today (about worry, rumination, threat monitoring etc.) I believe anyone can dramatically reduce social anxiety, and certainly overcome social anxiety disorder (SAD) or dramatically improve symptoms. I wish you all the best on your journey! I'll try to get back to making more videos for this channel this year.

Well done I’m watching them all

@socialanxietyonline

Жыл бұрын

Thanks DMC! I'll drop a weekly video.

According to doctors toxic shame comes from excessive trauma at a young age. Possible so young that you don't remember it.

Thank u 🙏

@socialanxietyonline

5 ай бұрын

You are welcome! I'm glad it helped :)