Posted by Ame Sans Vie on November 5, 2003, at 11:21:35
In reply to Re: Effects of Paxil on social phobe, posted by solo_voyager on November 4, 2003, at 21:36:35
You described a "pathological independence" in your original post, and the way you describe it sort of raises a red flag to me that says schizoid personality disorder. People with this disorder are often referred to as "loners"; they have no real desire to associate with others or make friends. It's not uncommon, from what I understand, for this disorder to occur along with social anxiety disorder. I don't believe there are any medication therapies known to be effective for this... therapy could really provide some insight though, and I highly recommend it (regardless of whether or not I'm correct about this SzPD speculation). My most debilitating problems are social anxiety, agoraphobia, and panic disorder, with social anxiety at the forefront. Paxil was the second medication I ever tried and was an absolute horror for me personally. I'm not sure that you mentioned how helpful the Paxil actually is for your SP, but if it's not doing its job in that regard, benzodiazepines are a very good, safe long-term therapy. Klonopin (clonazepam), Xanax (alprazolam), and Ativan (lorazepam) seem to have the best track record for social phobia, though I've heard success stories with Tranxene (clorazepate), Librium (chlordiazepoxide), Valium (diazepam), and Serax (oxazepam) as well.
Michael
poster:Ame Sans Vie
thread:276409
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031105/msgs/276825.html