Anxious Living

How to Use Typology with Social Anxiety

September 25th, 2006 by Ryan Oelke

This is part 3 of a series of posts on typology and social anxiety. Part 1 explores the relationship between social anxiety and typology. Part 2 explores the particular connection between introversion and social anxiety. Part 3 will provide methods for exploring typology and applying it to the path of overcoming social anxiety.

In this post I offer a few steps to discovering your personality typology, along with engaging questions to help you reflect on the connection between your typology and your social anxiety. Please feel free to ask questions, seek clarification, and share your own opinions. In order to be concise I’ll have to leave some things unaddressed, but perhaps I can do an additional post. Read the rest of this entry »

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Typology and Social Anxiety: Part 2 - SAD and Introversion

September 19th, 2006 by Ryan Oelke

This is part 2 of a series of posts on typology and social anxiety. Part 1 explores the relationship between social anxiety and typology. Part 2 explores the particular connection between introversion and social anxiety. Part 3 provides methods for exploring typology and applying it to the path of overcoming social anxiety.

The best way that I can demonstrate the importance of typology in working with social anxiety is by using my own life as an example. I first learned that I was an introvert and embraced that fact long before I formally knew I experienced social anxiety. I remember feeling a huge sense of relief because I had long been resisting that part of me. Unfortunately, introversion is only recently being fully understood¹, and our society still reacts to it as “shyness” or something abnormal. Which brings me to an important point: SAD and introversion can be easily confused, especially by a person with SA, as I should know. Read the rest of this entry »

1. The Introvert Advantage is and excellent book on what introversion is and how introverts can take advantage of their own personality strengths, as well as how to live in an extrovert world [back]

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Typology and Social Anxiety: Part 1

September 18th, 2006 by Ryan Oelke

This is part one of a series of posts on typology and social anxiety. Part 1 explores the relationship between social anxiety and typology. Part 2 explores the particular connection between introversion and social anxiety. Part 3 provides methods for exploring typology and applying it to the path of overcoming social anxiety.

Exploring typology has tremendous pontential to help a person with social anxiety for at least two reasons:

1. Typology is an inward journey, which is in contrast to the continual external focus that characterizes SAD.
2. Typology is meant to validate one’s own natural personality. Often those with SAD will resist, even fight or grow to dislike their own personality traits (not always, but it seems prevalent). This is especially true with introverts as the difference between SAD and introversion is at first difficult to notice, particularly for those who are both introverts and struggle with SAD. Read the rest of this entry »

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