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philmsa · 01-28-2005, 01:22 AM

Depressed,

Thanks for your question. Here is what SPA says about it:

Yes the 12 steps can be a very great help with your anxiety whether you ever drank or not.

Here is why (taken from the Social Phobics Anonymous website)--

"Q. If the 12 Steps are taken from Alcoholics Anonymous-- then how can they also help social anxiety (or related problems like social phobia or shyness or avoidant peronality disorder or APD or paruresis)?

A. When Alcoholics stop drinking, they suffer from a great deal of anxiety. When a drunk tries to stop drinking by him or herself, they quickly find themselves plagued by chronic and sometimes even crippling fears and obsessions. Without a recovery program like the 12 steps, this alcoholic anxiety syndrome can literally go on for years.

Consequently, when the 12 steps were first created 60 years ago, they were designed specifically to reduce or eliminate the anxiety and obsessions that plagued recovering Alcoholics.

So what does this have to do with people who are Socially Phobic? **Well-- 17 years ago, some people who were NOT alcoholics but who HAD anxiety disorders began applying the A.A. 12 steps to other (nonalcoholic) anxiety problems (like OCD) with excellent results.

These people discovered that the 12 steps were just as effective for other anxiety disorders as they were for alcoholic anxiety syndrome!

Soon anxiety 12 step programs (like OCA) had spread to nearly 30 states, Canada and Europe. And anxiety recovery stories started coming in from around the world.

More recently, some people decided to try applying the 12 steps specifically to Social Anxiety problems and it was found that yet again-- the 12 steps were very effective in helping people to reduce their social anxiety!"

( From the Social Phobics Anonymous website at www.healsocialanxiety.com ).

Best,

Phil

01-28-2005, 01:22 AM	#3 (permalink)
philmsa www.healsocialanxiety.com Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Boulder, Colorado Posts: 3	The 12 steps are not just for Alcoholics. Depressed, Thanks for your question. Here is what SPA says about it: Yes the 12 steps can be a very great help with your anxiety whether you ever drank or not. Here is why (taken from the Social Phobics Anonymous website)-- "Q. If the 12 Steps are taken from Alcoholics Anonymous-- then how can they also help social anxiety (or related problems like social phobia or shyness or avoidant peronality disorder or APD or paruresis)? A. When Alcoholics stop drinking, they suffer from a great deal of anxiety. When a drunk tries to stop drinking by him or herself, they quickly find themselves plagued by chronic and sometimes even crippling fears and obsessions. Without a recovery program like the 12 steps, this alcoholic anxiety syndrome can literally go on for years. Consequently, when the 12 steps were first created 60 years ago, they were designed specifically to reduce or eliminate the anxiety and obsessions that plagued recovering Alcoholics. So what does this have to do with people who are Socially Phobic? **Well-- 17 years ago, some people who were NOT alcoholics but who HAD anxiety disorders began applying the A.A. 12 steps to other (nonalcoholic) anxiety problems (like OCD) with excellent results. These people discovered that the 12 steps were just as effective for other anxiety disorders as they were for alcoholic anxiety syndrome! Soon anxiety 12 step programs (like OCA) had spread to nearly 30 states, Canada and Europe. And anxiety recovery stories started coming in from around the world. More recently, some people decided to try applying the 12 steps specifically to Social Anxiety problems and it was found that yet again-- the 12 steps were very effective in helping people to reduce their social anxiety!" ( From the Social Phobics Anonymous website at www.healsocialanxiety.com ). Best, Phil