I went through a series of social anxiety group-therapy sessions a few years back; my experiences there were positive.

It was very relieving to be able to openly speak to people who felt the same as myself; it was unfortunately only temporary anxiety-relief though.

I think that if I were to have formed personal relationships with the people I had met that it would have eased my anxiety at least somewhat, but once I was finished with the group-therapy, I had almost felt like it was all just a waste.

There are none in my area & I don't have the transportation to go anywhere else. But I think I'd be too scared to go, anyway. I've thought about it before & I think I'd be an outcast even there. I've never "fit in" around anyone before & even around people with something in common to myself, it would probably still be that way. I'd hate to be an outcast around others who also have social anxiety, but that would probably be the case.

I would be far too anxious and self-conscious to participate in any sort of group therapy. At most, I might be able to handle one-on-one sessions, but even then it's difficult to find someone I'm comfortable talking to.

I've always wanted to join one. As of right now, I would be way too scared to do it. It's something I'm looking forward to trying though.

What was your experience like Chair, if you don't mind me asking? Did you speak at the first meeting? How bad were these people's anxieties? I'm just curious what a session would be like, especially with something like social anxiety. It's too bad you didn't develop any relationships with people there -- that's what I would want out of it most, I think.

Anything with the word "group" in it is a no-go for me. I'd been forced into a therapy group or two at the insistence of people I couldn't override, and they were just as bad as any other group of people. I got a lot of glares when I spoke. I suppose having intact self-esteem invalidates all other issues, and I should just suck it up that I'm treated like a waste of matter. *shrug*

I was unusually social with people; not much (to utter 100 words in a day is a lot for me), but a hell of a lot more than usual, which was a huge contrast from what I'm normally like.

The anxiety really showed with some of the people; with others, not so much.

A strange thing that happened was that we started off with maybe ten people in our group, and ended with three or so; some people quit showing up after the first session, some quit showing up halfway through, etc. I am not certain as to why most of the people gradually left the group, but I had formed a few theories as to why (perhaps they were afraid of me?)

One thing I'll always regret is showing up to one of the group-therapy session while drunk enough to pass out/barf -- man was that ever stupid. I had consumed nearly 20 shots of vodka within a couple hours with my brother before showing up; I'd forgotten that I had therapy that day, but still decided to show up while drunk. At therapy, I was very paranoid that I'd get caught being drunk and be thrown out or something, and nearly told the people at therapy that I was intoxicated and that I shouldn't have shown up, but I really kept control over myself. During therapy, all I was pretty much saying in my head was "I hope I don't puke", "I hope I don't puke", I hope I don't puke", "I hope I don't pass out", "I hope I don't pass out", "I hope I don't pass out", "I hope people don't discover that I'm drunk", "I hope people don't discover that I'm drunk", "I hope people don't discover that I'm drunk". I think that the only positive thing about that came out of that drunken therapy session was that I really opened myself up that class; I was drunk and didn't really give a shit about what came out of my mouth.

Anyway, on the last day of therapy, I gave my email-address out to someone; they never wrote me an email.

Aw. The problem with two people having social anxiety is they need to both have ways to contact each other. It helps the chances of them talking. The person was probably just nervous. At least for me, anyway. I can never be the one to initiate the first contact.

Also, that was a good story haha. Alcohol tends to help with my anxieties as well. I've actually had a few shots before social gatherings before. The first time I took the city bus, I had to have a few beers in me and I'm kind of a lightweight. Toronto TTC buses + Toronto traffic + alcohol = fun times. I've since stopped using alcohol. For anxiety anyway.

I've been going to group therapy for a year now. While not exclusively a group for SAD cases, there's a few of us. I don't feel the group therapy has helped me any so far. If I could afford it, I'd go for private CBT sessions. This group approach where we just sit around discussing how we're feeling on any given day doesn't feel productive at all.

Hi,

I'd like to mention a type of (in-person) Social Anxiety Anxiety support group that has been very helpful to me. It's Social Anxiety Anonymous (SoCAA) (a Nonprofit organization). They provide (completely free) telephone conference call support groups (and some local face-to-face support groups) for overcoming social anxiety problems.

I like these groups because they allow for personal contact, but without pressure. For example, one is free to just listen if one is not comfortable speaking. In addition SoCAA has a 12 Step program of recovery that is a combination of the "12 Step" (a healing approach found in numerous self-help support organizations) in combination with tools like Cognitive Behavior Therapy, visualization / dream work (learning to visualize in detail the life that you really want), meditation and trust-building. All of these tools are supposed to be used gently rather than forcefully, and the use of each tool is optional (at ones personal discretion).

Anyway I hope that provides an adequate overview. This approach is not for everybody, but some fellow Hikikomori may find it useful.

As it is a Nonprofit, there are no charges for any of the above groups and their literature is posted on their website.