Painfully Shy: How to Overcome Social Anxiety and Reclaim Your Life

by Barbara G. Markway, Gregory P. Markway, Ph.D. Markway Barbara G.

Book Overview

Question:
* Do you feel shy and self-conscious in social situations?
* Are you plagued with self-doubts about how you come across to others?
* Do you feel physically sick with worry about certain situations that involve interacting with others?
* Do you make excuses, or even lie to avoid the social situations you dread?
* Do you make important decisions based on whether you'll have to participate in groups or speak in front of others?...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312316232
• ISBN13: 9780312316235
• Release Date: August 2003
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 274 Pages
• Weight: 0.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Extremely Helpful

If you want to start dealing with your social anxiety, this is a great book to begin with. It teaches the reader excellent techniques to managing anxiety, and even after two years of therapy, I found the relaxtion excrises extremely helpful. Reading this book also gives the shy, lonely person who may have social anxiety a sense of belonging. Reading this book made me realize that I am not the only one with S.A.D. and it really has helped me tremoundlsy. This book is great for starting out with dealing with social anxiety and I would definatly recommend it.

painfully shy

This book effectively taught me how to deal with SA. I really like the author's communication style.The topics that helped me most were about what to/what not to focus on and how to conduct yourself, how to face your core fears, and how to relax. It gives a good framework to build a practice out of.

good resource

Like many other books on the subject, this is yet another great resource to deal with a real problem many people (inlcuding myself) suffer from. It's sad that people like Darin review the book without any knowledge of the disease first- hand. His review was a bit confusing, but I think he's trying to claim this isn't a real disease. Let me tell you- it is. It is NOT shyness...shyness does not even do justice to the ordeals we go thru everyday, just to do the simplest tasks that anyone with this disease takes for granted. Is going to the grocery store or the drive thru bank window a troubling experience that causes fear in the average person? Of course not...it is for me tho, so,common sense says this IS a real problem...it IS a disease, it's not just a personality trait. It's a shame to see ignorance people like Darin give off in the reviews of such a good book. By the way, contrary to what Darin says- if you suffer from the disease, you're hardly a loser. Atleast that's what I got out of his poorly written review.

Lots of good information in this book

Wow. I think maybe that last reviewer had some problems other than just being painfully shy. I don't usually write reviews but I like this book and have found it helpful. Most books dealing with this subject seem to be more specific to social skills-- how to be assertive, how to win friends and influence people, etc. I like this book because it deals more generally with how to be comfortable with yourself in social situations. It's clear and easy to read and has interesting examples. It also has helpful exercises to try.

Up-to-date, practical information.

A tremendous amount of research has been done on anxiety disorders in the last fifteen years. Researchers have discovered a lot about what causes it and what can be done about it, and in this book you'll find the latest information.Social anxiety disorder is most common anxiety disorder and the third most common psychiatric disorder over all (behind depression and alcoholism). If it's so common, why haven't we heard much about it? Because the nature of the problem keeps it hidden. "Can you see a movie-of-the-week," says psychologist Thomas Richards, "about a very shy person who rarely leaves the house except to go to work, who has no friends, and is afraid of answering the door at times?" Who would watch a movie like that? The authors of Painfully Shy said that after their first book (Dying of Embarrassment) was published, a television talk show called them and said, "We want you on our show if you can bring several articulate, outgoing social phobics with you." What the heck were they thinking? Social anxiety disorder doesn't get much coverage because anyone with the problem is trying to avoid the public eye.But this book brings social anxiety into the light. Anxious thoughts and feelings CAN be managed successfully, and this book will show you how. I'm the author of the book, Self-Help Stuff That Works, and if you want practical, helpful advice that will really work to overcome your shyness, I highly recommend Painfully Shy.