The New Feminine Brain by Mona Lisa Schulz M.D. Ph.D

Author:Mona Lisa Schulz, M.D., Ph.D.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Free Press

DIALECTIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY (DBT)

DBT is a special form of cognitive behavioral therapy for women and men who have suffered emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. It helps regulate anxiety and panic, and enables them to regain a sense of safety.

Edie’s story illustrates how cognitive behavioral therapy can help someone stop a panic attack.

A Party Phobia

Edie, twenty-eight, was a very successful businesswoman, and no one would ever guess that she had problems with anxiety. Yet in school she had always had trouble doing oral presentations in front of the teachers and the class. Before she would speak, she would feel so nauseated that she would frequently throw up, but would push herself through the panic. When she went off to college, she supported herself selling real estate on the side. Edie was such a go-getter, no one ever guessed that she was afraid of social gatherings. The day before a party she would ruminate over and over again about going. The night before the event, she couldn’t sleep. The day of the event, she would be exhausted and a nervous wreck and would begin to eat, craving any carbohydrate available. She felt tension in her chest, and when it was time to go to the party, she would be sweating, tense, and short of breath. Family members would tell her not to go if she was going to get so sick, but Edie didn’t want to be a social failure, and wanted to see her friends, and perhaps meet the “man of her dreams.”

When Edie got to a party where everyone was drinking, she would immediately have a drink. After that, though, she would fill her glass with water. Edie really didn’t like alcohol much because she had had an alcoholic grandfather who was in and out of rehab. However, as the evening progressed, Edie got more tense. She couldn’t seem to focus on conversations, since everyone and everything seemed superficial and boring. So Edie would retreat to the side of the room and watch others talking animatedly. Then she would begin to feel waves of sadness. She would see her friends with their boyfriends: Compared to them, she felt like a loser. Eventually, Edie would go home, and for the next few days be sad, dejected, and exhausted . . . until the next party. Then her party phobia would repeat itself.

Edie told me that she had always been a little on the nervous side but had been able to contain it by being very organized at work and in school. She could feel more in control if she practiced her sales pitch or her talk over and over again, but couldn’t apply those anxiety management skills to going to a party or finding a boyfriend. So I had Edie bring her attention to the days before the party. Edie began to recall the thoughts going through her mind:

“When I go to parties, I never find anyone to talk to.”

“When I go to parties, all my friends end up finding boyfriends and I never meet anyone.

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