> However, I am not sure that this is truly the order of things, at least for me. I observed that, even when I studiously avoided negative thoughts like this, t

> However, I am not sure that this is truly the order of things, at least for me. I observed that, even when I studiously avoided negative thoughts like this, the underlying emotions were still often present. Being confronted with a social situation produced a physiological response that included anxiety. I might consciously rationalise that response with a thought like "this is a social situation, and social situations make me nervous", but the underlying response existed regardless. This was an issue for me and I asked about it. Will I ever be able to experience the situation without having to use CBT to deal with it. The response was you need to practice. Using CBT makes it easier for you to confront the situation and makes you less likely to excuse yourself from it. And over time the situation will become more normalised and those emotions will go away. Personally I have found that to be true. If I ensure I regularly engage socially the emotions are rarely bad. If I fall out of practice for a month or two it is a struggle at the beginning again but eventually with enough practice I'm fine again. So the CBT isn't a cure but a tool to help you engage in the situation instead of avoiding it and then over time the emotionally response improves. Just like if you start a new challenging job you might be nervous you don't know enough but you learn and slowly it becomes easier until you reach a point where you have no 'negative' emotions going to work everyday.