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I found the top comment in Reddit about this topic to be very interesting: http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/88i21/how_a_month_and_a_half_on_paxil_ta

I found the top comment in Reddit about this topic to be very interesting: http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/88i21/how_a_month_and_a_half_on_paxil_taught_me_to_love/c08jqz4 http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/88i21/how_a_mont... My personal experience: When I was regularly playing Racquetball and lifting weights, I didn't find everyday problems - tough as they were - to be daunting. Then there was a long gap when I didn't have this protection and the circumstances had much greater impact on my mood. I am starting workouts again.

arjungmenon 18y ago
The comment: If you are male, the best "drug" for social anxiety is weightlifting. (No, you don't need to be a huge-ass body-builder-douche, if you don't do 'roids you probably won't be one, you'll look normal and athletic.) I think probably it's all about testosterone - weightlifting increases the levels of those and thus makes us feel more "manly" and that just blows away the insecurity. I'm not a scientist, so that testosterone stuff is just a guess, but it was amazing how at the age if 17 it transformed me from a shy, withdrawn, never-look-people-in-the-eyes teenager to a "real man" - relaxed, confident, one who talks to people as a real equal. Much of social interaction has hidden traces of very primitive instincts behind it: the sexual instinct and the fight instinct, and weightlifting gives you confidence in both (even though you would still be beaten to a pulp by any 120 pound Thai Box fighter, but that doesn't matter, you probably don't actually need to fight: it's just the feeling) which transforms into a relaxed and confident social interaction. Another way to put it is that as an Aspie, I always felt alien from both the world and from my body. My idea of "me" is something in my head who tries to drive my body with a remote control and it just doesn't work well. Weightlifting got me to connect with my body, it made by body a part of the "me", and through the body as a medium, it made me connect with the world and other people. (Probably it's something about strenghtening some under-used neural pathways that connect the "self" parts of the brain with other parts.) Now at 30 I'm often too lazy to do it, but whenever I do it for a few months, my Aspiehood just goes away.
- shard 18y ago
  I always find it strange that when people suggest doing weight training, there's often a disclaimer that you won't become huge and muscular with regular workouts. It's like a disclaimer saying that you won't get all brainy and smart if you study physics or math. I would imagine that if you had the potential to be a world class bodybuilder, it's worth exploring, just as if you had the potential to be a world class physicist, it's worth exploring. About weight lifting helping cure social anxiety, I think it's more than just testosterone. If you get serious about weights, you start watching your diet. Eating well is a large component of feeling well, and cutting down on junk and processed foods makes a noticeable difference in mood and energy.
  - deleted 18y ago
    [deleted]
  - manvsmachine 18y ago
    Another factor that comes into play is having regular periods of intense focus. We all claim to be focusing when we're doing work, but there are still all those microdistractions that come with the territory. You'll learn very quickly how to maintain focus if you down want to drop a couple hundred pounds on your chest. There was a period of time when I wasn't working out, but I'd go for a drive late at night when I was stressed. Not a normal drive, mind you; I would blast up and down the side of a nearby mountain. The physical aspect of driving, combined with the focus necessary to not go flying off a cliff, had a very similar effect. I don't recommend this, as it was extremely reckless, but if you happen to live anywhere near a track, or even a karting facility, I'd strongly suggest trying it out.
    - hussong 18y ago
      Joseph Campbell said it best: "people want to feel alive". And when you're exercising at the limit of what you're physically capable of, you do feel very alive. Getting into and pushing through physical pain on a regular basis also makes it easier to connect to and overcome other pains in you.
  - 18y ago

arjungmenon 18y ago

The comment: If you are male, the best "drug" for social anxiety is weightlifting. (No, you don't need to be a huge-ass body-builder-douche, if you don't do 'roids you probably won't be one, you'll look normal and athletic.) I think probably it's all about testosterone - weightlifting increases the levels of those and thus makes us feel more "manly" and that just blows away the insecurity. I'm not a scientist, so that testosterone stuff is just a guess, but it was amazing how at the age if 17 it transformed me from a shy, withdrawn, never-look-people-in-the-eyes teenager to a "real man" - relaxed, confident, one who talks to people as a real equal. Much of social interaction has hidden traces of very primitive instincts behind it: the sexual instinct and the fight instinct, and weightlifting gives you confidence in both (even though you would still be beaten to a pulp by any 120 pound Thai Box fighter, but that doesn't matter, you probably don't actually need to fight: it's just the feeling) which transforms into a relaxed and confident social interaction. Another way to put it is that as an Aspie, I always felt alien from both the world and from my body. My idea of "me" is something in my head who tries to drive my body with a remote control and it just doesn't work well. Weightlifting got me to connect with my body, it made by body a part of the "me", and through the body as a medium, it made me connect with the world and other people. (Probably it's something about strenghtening some under-used neural pathways that connect the "self" parts of the brain with other parts.) Now at 30 I'm often too lazy to do it, but whenever I do it for a few months, my Aspiehood just goes away.

shard 18y ago
I always find it strange that when people suggest doing weight training, there's often a disclaimer that you won't become huge and muscular with regular workouts. It's like a disclaimer saying that you won't get all brainy and smart if you study physics or math. I would imagine that if you had the potential to be a world class bodybuilder, it's worth exploring, just as if you had the potential to be a world class physicist, it's worth exploring. About weight lifting helping cure social anxiety, I think it's more than just testosterone. If you get serious about weights, you start watching your diet. Eating well is a large component of feeling well, and cutting down on junk and processed foods makes a noticeable difference in mood and energy.
- deleted 18y ago
  [deleted]
- manvsmachine 18y ago
  Another factor that comes into play is having regular periods of intense focus. We all claim to be focusing when we're doing work, but there are still all those microdistractions that come with the territory. You'll learn very quickly how to maintain focus if you down want to drop a couple hundred pounds on your chest. There was a period of time when I wasn't working out, but I'd go for a drive late at night when I was stressed. Not a normal drive, mind you; I would blast up and down the side of a nearby mountain. The physical aspect of driving, combined with the focus necessary to not go flying off a cliff, had a very similar effect. I don't recommend this, as it was extremely reckless, but if you happen to live anywhere near a track, or even a karting facility, I'd strongly suggest trying it out.
  - hussong 18y ago
    Joseph Campbell said it best: "people want to feel alive". And when you're exercising at the limit of what you're physically capable of, you do feel very alive. Getting into and pushing through physical pain on a regular basis also makes it easier to connect to and overcome other pains in you.
- 18y ago