every week a psychologist comes on the radio and talks about a particular issue. my roommate listens to this show.

this week the show was on and I was just casually listening. The psychologist was describing symptoms of a disorder. I have every symptom he described. I felt like he was talking about me.

I am not sure about the name of the disorder, but here are some symptoms that he mentioned:

these people never raise their hand in class, even if they have a question. (me: check mark)
they don't like to work in groups and avoid group work at all costs (check)
talking to the opposite sex is their worst nightmare. (check)
They see the negative in everything and dont see the positive. They see everything in a negative light (check)
they are not risk takers, they hate risk (check)
they are satisfied being where they are (check)
they will never make significant progress in life (check)
they feel like they are incompetent (check)

there was also a few more things that I dont remember, but I remember going check check check

unfortunately, the psychologist just described the problem. he didn't offer any solutions.

is it possible for me to change, or am I stuck in this situation forever? what can I do? I dont want to go to a therapist because I think it's useless and I dont have money for it anyway.

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I have not failed 10,000 times. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. - Edison

It is called being a beta.

The beta male, however, can aspire to one day get the status of the alpha male by observing and 'mirin him.

For real, this is not a disorder. Get your shit together and work on yourself, it can all be fixed.

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404 game not found

Not a disorder lol

None of those "symptoms" sound particularly serious - and they're all things that can be changed with some work and a different outlook.

See a shrink if you're really concerned about it - but it's all just confidence building and testing your limits... live outside your comfort zone and eventually your comfort zone will get bigger.

You're an introvert. Nothing wrong with that. Lots of people are introverts.

It sounds like 70% of most guys. I believe a lot of people call the disorder being a chode

Was the psychologist selling his latest self-help book? There is a real trend to call anything a disorder and sell a SPAM for it.

As for seeing a therapist... some work, some don't. Depends on why you go. Therapists aren't generally trained to diagnose disorders, usually that is down to a psychiatrist or a psychologist if you want a personality assessment done. For the stuff you list, CBT is a pretty good therapy and something you can work through yourself from a good book (CBT for Dummies is very good). Talk therapy, psychoanalysis and the like probably wouldn't be the best choice.

If you can afford therapy then I'd recommend it for anyone regardless of whether they have problems or not. I've been going once a week for a while, I went initially after a bout of depression but now I go because I enjoy it. It's like a weekly brain workout. Does it do any good? I don't know, I go more because it lets me understand the way I think, mistakes I make and why other people do the stuff they do.

For the stuff you describe, going out and doing the opposite of that list is probably the best therapy.

NLP is pretty much worthless in manipulating other people, but is quite effective at manipulating yourself.
Have you ever tried looking into stuff like Tony Robbins?

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RSDTyler

no, never heard of tony robbins until now.

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I have not failed 10,000 times. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. - Edison

I'd read stuff on NLP in the past, recently I read one of the early NLP books and was really surprised. A hell of a lot different from what is taught these days. It's like the 10% of the good stuff without the 90% of the bunkum. Can't remember the title, it was by one of Bandler and Grinder's research assistants.

I'm not a big fan of Tony Robbins techniques but I think he himself is great. He is a fantastic motivator, his audio stuff good, he's a really great speaker. One of his books (I think it was Unlimited Power) turned my life around, I'd been unemployed for 6 months, broke, living with my folks. It got me off my arse within about a month. He's very good at motivating you to change yourself.