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Social anxiety disorder-associated gut microbiota increases social fear

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81–90 of 152 posts

Re: Social anxiety disorder-associated gut microbiota increases social fear

#81
post #59

I've suffered with social anxiety for a very long time. Thirty years ago a doctor prescribed a MAOI which immediately transformed me into a social butterfly (which in hindsight was a very difficult transition). This forever proved to me what the doctor had told me: it is all about chemical balance in the brain. The problem, of course, was the danger. I could die within minutes if I ate fermented food without taking t…

You didn't mention therapy in your comment. Was this something you tried? Personally I've went from hermit > normally social thanks to CBT. It's very hard work, you need to find the right therapist, and you have to continually work on it but it gets easier.

Re: Social anxiety disorder-associated gut microbiota increases social fear

#82
I feel all such studies should be headlined with: In mice: blah blah blah.

and then if the research is farther along:

In : blah blah

and finally if ever

In humans: blah blah blah.

I keep reading storie about what happens to mice in studies but I am far more interested when the research has been able to get to human trials and results are coming in.

Re: Social anxiety disorder-associated gut microbiota increases social fear

#83
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

do you substitute your fruits with vegetables? Maybe I should try it as well but then again my daily apple is one of my highlights.

The most direct substitution was cheese, lactose does not appear to have the same effect on me as fructose or sucrose. I mostly eat kale for vegetables, this also helps with subclinical insulin resistance and inflammation. I think roasting vegetables may end up being too sweet. I did an extended 5 day water fast to kick start the microbiome changes I undertook it as an experiment and the effectiveness in lifting brai…

It is important to note that extended water fasting will have adverse effects for some people. It is not recommended to do it for that long.

"" The water fast lasts for 24–72 hours. You should not water fast for longer than this without medical supervision because of health risks. "" https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/water-fasting

Re: Social anxiety disorder-associated gut microbiota increases social fear

#84
post #62
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Beneficial for the group, not the individual, I suppose.

Which is to say, maladaptive. Despite all the people wishing evolution worked at the group level, it doesn't. Groups don't have offspring, individuals do, and thus things that are bad for the individual are extinguished regardless of their effect on the group. If you look closely enough, even individuals aren't the true units of evolution, for the same reason; competing alleles is where the real action is.

Voting me down doesn't change the fact that group selection is a myth. A myth that some people are fervently attached to, but a myth nonetheless. Groups simply don't reproduce at a rate or fidelity to allow evolution at the group level over the time scales in question.

E pur si muove.

Re: Social anxiety disorder-associated gut microbiota increases social fear

#85
post #72

My social anxiety sky rocketed at 19 and didn't start to settle down until 23/24. I never knew exactly why, and that's always troubled me a bit. A microbe population getting out of hand sounds possible, as my diet and surroundings changed drastically at 19. Interesting stuff.

>> surroundings changed drastically at 19 Couldn't this be the easier explanation? People at that age tend to move away from home, go to college or start work - all big changes, all highly social and potentially stressful changes. Mental health issues leading on from this is understandable and anecdotally I've saw it in several friends.

People who grew up in a certain SES class (of their parents) also tend to take on poverty-conditions when in college (oh man all I can afford this week are these cup noodles), and not to mention frequent destruction of the microbiome with alcohol. It's probably very disrupting. Maybe has something to do with why those who have a predisposition to having a psychotic break tend to have their first around 20.

Re: Social anxiety disorder-associated gut microbiota increases social fear

#86
post #40

I know from personal experience that eating sugar does induce more anxiety in me. This might sound weird but I can "physically feel" in my head a certain anxiety when e.g. I think about something awkward. This "physical feel" stopped being there when I stopped eating sweets for a few weeks. One reason why I try to keep my sugar intake down (the other being in danger of getting diabetes...). Thus, I wholly believe thi…

I get a similar feeling when drinking milk. Maybe I'm becoming intolerant.

Re: Social anxiety disorder-associated gut microbiota increases social fear

#87
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Strongly second this ask.

So long as it isn’t eating the variety of fresh fruits and vegetables that produce gut serotonin in the microbial breakdown of complex carbohydrates and fiber, right?

Why wouldn’t it be? Do you know which ones exhibit the desired characteristic?

Re: Social anxiety disorder-associated gut microbiota increases social fear

#89
post #19

I've seen probiotic supplements that have strains that claim to help with anxiety and depression, but I've never really looked into them because I'm quite skeptical they do anything. But if anyone is familiar with them and has any feedback I'd be interested to hear it.

There's this one person who claims to have found out that theses probiotics need to be amplified into a megadose, and subsequently they cured themselves from social anxiety. I'm not sure if there are other people who have replicated, but the initial report seems trustworthy. See https://pdfcoffee.com/experimental-treatment-for-social-phob...

Re: Social anxiety disorder-associated gut microbiota increases social fear

#90
post #4

This is gonna go viral as: just eat more yogurt to stop being awkward or whatever.

Eating more prebiotics in the form of unprocessed plants is much more effective at improving gut health than probiotic supplements or even probiotic foods. (Of course you can do both.)
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