Diagonally-Parked in a Parallel Universe : Working Through Social Anxiety

Rating:
Summary: Builds your self-confidence and motivates you
Review: This book really does have "everything" AND it really is "smart and funny". But the reason I especially like it is because it showed me that I'm okay, that SP is only a part of me, not "all" of me or the "real" me or some external monster to battle to the death. Once I accepted SP as simply a way of thinking and behaving that I wanted to change, like using the wrong fork at dinner, I stopped wasting all that energy jousting at windmills and being so furious with myself for having SP. That's when my recovery began. After five months I'm doing lots better. I guess I could even say I "like" me now and that really feels so good.

Rating:
Summary: Great chapter topics
Review: Who else but a former social phobic and psychologist would think to include a chapter on social phobics' struggle with excessive sweating, blushing, and bashful bladder. Who else would understand how grossly embarrassing they are and how much they interfere with daily activities, like driving and work and sports. This is the only book on social phobia I have found that really covers these important topics.

Rating:
Summary: Ab Fab!
Review: Don't read this book because it has everything you need and want to deal successfully with social phobia. Read it because it's smart and funny.

Rating:
Summary: Helps you develop your job and career
Review: I've been stuck in a series of dead-end jobs, from short-order cook to inventory counter, for years. I took them because they didn't require my meeting with lots of people, not because they were of interest or used my skills and experience. My social anxiety dictated everything so I had no idea what I really wanted to do or could do or how to figure it out. The chapter "Marketing Yourself in the Job Market" really helped me see there is a work life beyond my social fears that I want. It walked me through the thinking steps and decision making process. Talk about eye opening! As a result, I have a job goal to shoot for as I get my social anxiety under control. I feel very hopeful that when I can more comfortably meet the work world, I'll have the means to FINALLY get what I want.

Rating:
Summary: Should be required reading
Review: This book should be required reading for all physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists and other mental health professionals, families and friends of social phobics, and the public. This is everything they need to know to understand social fears and avoidance and help sufferers deal with them.

Rating:
Summary: Tells you how to find and use a therapist
Review: If you want to find a psychotherapist too, this book not only tells you how to find them but tells what to ask them about their SP experience and what their therapy entails. It tells you how to find out about your insurance coverage for therapy. Then it discusses the therapy itself and what you can expect to encounter in therapy and the relationship. It tells you how to prepare for the first visit so you can get off on the right foot. Finding the right pdoc was tough for me but without the book it would have been impossible. I have shared the book with my pdoc and we have used exercises and discussion sections from it.

Rating:
Summary: THANK YOU!
Review: I was to receive an award for my volunteer work with children and was afraid my social anxiety would prevent me from going to the ceremony. Diagonally-Parked saved me. I followed all the book's suggestions from breathing to stopping negative thoughts. I scripted what I would do and say and practiced. I was surprised at all the little things that helped. It was not easy. On the day of the ceremony I spent all my spare time talking to myself and visualizing my walking to the podium. Finally even though my heart was racing a little, I walked up to receive my placque and spoke my few prepared words. I made it through and the audience applauded me. I was so happy I wanted to weep. It was the most liberating and joyful experience I have ever had. Thank you, Dr. Dayhoff.

Rating:
Summary: Divinely inspired
Review: For this book to be so helpful to so many in desperation and pain from the debilitating disorder of social anxiety the author must have been Divinely inspired. This book is a gift from the Almighty. Thank you, Dr. Dayhoff, and God bless you.

Rating:
Summary: Eminently Practical
Review: This book is incredibly practical. Need to know about locating therapists and what therapy is like or medications and free medication programs or medical insurance and Social Security Supplemental payments or alternative treatments, such as ETS and EMDR, or any of a hundred other offline and online resources for every aspect of your life with social anxiety? It is all here in Diagonally-Parked in a Parallel Universe. This is the compendium of what everyone, social phobics, health care professionals, and other caregivers, should know about social anxiety disorder to deal with it effectively.

Rating:
Summary: This book is a godsend
Review: The first chapter, "Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!" accurately describes my social phobia. It's exactly what I go through everyday at university, even down to my drinking problem to help me get through the day. It's like reading the autobiography of my social phobia. As I read I find myself nodding my head "yes, yes, that's me." No one has ever painted so intimate a portrait or understood me so deeply as Dr. Dayhoff does. I'm so very glad to have found this book.