Anything to do with mental illnesses/disorders
The Strange, Surprisingly Effective Cure for Social Anxiety
The Strange, Surprisingly Effective Cure for Social Anxiety
In the age of the digital hermit, a psychologist explains what it means to avoid other people-and what to do about it. For us to continue writing great stories, we need to display ads. Please select the extension that is blocking ads.
theatlantic.com
For some reason this article from Oct 2015 is today's most popular article on The Atlantic. Worth a read, though.




For people who don't want to read all the way through to the very end:
So, basically, just be social anyways. They would script specific scenarios that people have to do--talk to a girl, spill your coffee and ask for a new one at the coffee shop, ask for a book on sex at a bookstore, etc.
I find this weird because I used to have severe social anxiety in my teens and early to mid 20's. I got it from actually BEING in those worst case scenarios again and again and again - bullied and rejected continuously in school and other areas of life.
The way I got out of social anxiety was from people being kind to me, strangers being kind, instead of horrible. I did put myself out there, but I didn't get treated badly. If I had gotten treated badly (and I had before, trust me) it only made things intensely worse, and would bring on depression.
:( Sorry that happened to you. Glad it sounds like it's gotten better though! I think with this, it was a little bit more controlled and scripted. And I think part of scripting it probably made it easier—if you are rejected, it's not as much because of you, because you were just doing what you were told to, and they also probably just set you up for as much success as possible. And most people in general are nice and polite, so they were probably also just betting on that a little bit.