Reddit reviews The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science (James H. Silberman Books)

If you ever have thoughts about suicide, please, please talk to someone and/or call a suicide hotline. The anxiety and depression is clouding your judgement and making it feel like killing yourself is the only and/or best option.

Have you talked to a therapist? For me it was the best thing I've ever done. It has tremendously improved my anxiety. It doesn't control me anymore how it used to.

Anxiety and depression are things that many people have experienced and even live with everyday. You are not alone in your struggles. There are many ways to improve your situation.

One thing that is critical for me is my self-talk. I didn't think I was being negative to myself, but I found out that I really was. If you say things like, "God, you are an idiot! Everyone can see how awkward you are!" then you are going to believe that that is true. Try identifying those thoughts and stopping them. Replace them with something genuinely positive. Maybe think about what you might say to an eight year old who came to you with this problem. They would say, "Everyone hates me, they can tell I'm nervous around them. I don't deserve to be alive." What would you say to this child? Try talking in a genuinely understanding voice and tell that child, "It's okay. Everyone gets anxious sometimes. And, being awkward isn't the end of the world. Sometimes people feel uncomfortable and it shows. People understand that." Try talking to yourself like you are the kid you are talking to. This scenario helped me because when I would talk to myself, I would say nice things, but in a tone that conveyed that I was annoyed with myself. When I think about how I would say those same things to someone else, I realized I wasn't being very nice to myself.

When you are in the situation where you feel awkward, try talking to yourself then too. Take deep breaths and tell yourself that it's okay. Tell yourself that this is a natural response that your brain is having. Your brain thinks that there is a threat on your life, so it goes into fight-or-flight mode. Your brain is doing this to protect your life--it just doesn't realize that you aren't actually in any danger. Explain this to yourself, tell yourself that your brain is stuck in a rut and that you are going to get it out of that rut. Tell yourself you can handle anything.

Going in to a situation that gives you anxiety and expecting it to be different....that isn't going to work. I know that a lot of people say to just do it and you will get over it, but that simply isn't the case. The people who say this are ignorant to your anxiety and depression. You have to change something about yourself first, before you can go into these situations and have a different outcome with them. Also, it can help to take baby steps before you just jump in the deep end. Try something smaller, like saying hello to the bus driver or asking the clerk at a store a question. Do this however many times it takes to be comfortable. Use positive self-talk around these situations and tell yourself that you are doing great. Even if you didn't get the outcome you wanted, you still were incredibly brave and tried your best. That's progress in itself. It's a long process and it won't always go well. That's okay. As long as you remember to tell yourself that it's okay to not always get it right, you will be on your way to a new you.

Also read books on depression and anxiety. That helped me realize that I'm not alone, and that there are many, many, many ways to help people with these problems. One book I really liked, that isn't necessarily about depression or anxiety, but made me realize the power you have to change your life, is The Brain That Changes Itself. It was the thing that inspired me to help myself, and made me believe in myself and my ability to change. It's about people's personal stories, but it's all backed up by scientific research. It makes you see that if someone who was born with literally half of a brain can learn to do things that doctors say you need the right side of your brain to do, that you must be able to do something about your own situation.

These are some things that have helped me. I hope they will help you and inspire you too. You can do this. I believe in you.

The Brain That Changes Itself

Gravity's Rainbow

When You Are Engulfed in Flames

Interesting.

You simply must read The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge. It's a book about how the brain is very, very teachable. One of the stories is about a person with number and clock difficulties quite similar to yours who fixed them through intensive training. It is not an instruction manual though, but a catalog of examples of the brain being changeable.

Incidentally, the digits 0 through 9 tend to get connected to the part of the brain responsible for things like face recognition. You would think they go straight to the logical thinking areas, but no. Looking at numbers is a lot like looking at people, and that is not known for automatically having much logic connected to it.

Good luck.

http://www.amazon.com/Brain-That-Changes-Itself-ebook/dp/B000QCTNIW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1374791894&sr=8-2&keywords=brain+plasticity