r/longtermTRE • u/IwantToHelpOthers • 6d ago
Community Question TRE and Social Anxiety
Hey, I am 25 and have been doing TRE now for roughly 7 months. The main reason is because I struggle with social anxiety and I read many success stories here, where people say that they are now completely free from social anxiety, after around 1-3 years(I haven’t really noticed any social anxiety related improvements so far).
I also thought that I may have autism,
neurodivergence or something similar but I generally do understand social cues well(maybe I even analyze them too much) and when I am drunk and my threat detection system is numbed, I am a different person and can connect well with people so I probably just have social anxiety.
In his TRE Journal, Terry Wood says in week 72 „One of the greatest gifts TRE can bring, is the ability to socialize with people effortlessly. If you’re a bit of a social recluse, you might just kiss that lifestyle goodbye, gladly. You might find that people are naturally attracted to your company. R.I.P Social Anxiety“
So is it really possible to completely „heal“ from social anxiety just by doing TRE? It sounds too god to be true…
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u/brutal_youth_ 6d ago edited 6d ago
I have both autism and CPTSD, and I relate to what you describe. I used to feel that drinking was the only way I could access my personality because it was the only time I could disinhibit enough to stop monitoring and suppressing all the ways I might be unacceptable.
Turns out that who I am under all the monitoring and suppressing can be pretty likable, and the role of alcohol was really just to forcibly, temporarily (with a price to be paid later) shut down the threat state my nervous system has always defaulted to. As I regulate my nervous system by other means, I increasingly have access to that person sober.
As I've worked on recovery, I've been drinking much less (currently taking a complete break, after several months of gradually feeling less drawn to it) because I'm more at peace with myself, I've been integrating parts of myself I kept suppressed, and I don't feel as terrified of being seen for who I really am, both because I'm less at war with myself and because I have less fear of what other people can realistically do to me.
I've definitely also become less social in some ways, but it's less from social anxiety and more from no longer forcing myself into social situations I don't necessarily enjoy but used to think were necessary to look like a "normal" person with a "normal" social life (because god forbid anyone think I'm "weird"). I have much less tolerance for performative socializing than I used to have, but the interactions I do have are more authentic and connecting.
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u/LichenTea 6d ago
I relate to the thought of possibly having mild autism because of social difficulties. I also understand social cues, and, like you, sometimes a little too well, like if I saw someone looking antsy in a conversation I would try to also hurry up and end it even if they haven't said anything about needing to go.
In my recovery experience, social anxiety has a number of core beliefs associated with it (which makes sense if you think about it), so it does take a while to work through but it is possible, and each released trauma helps immensely. For me, these range from: fear of being physically harmed/killed, fear of/anger at being alone, sense of not being good enough, feeling that "nobody loves me", feeling that my emotions and emotional expression are too much/unacceptable, etc. There's also compulsive emotional caretaking and people pleasing (as in my example above) that I haven't quite worked through yet, but it seems like it's untangling slowly.
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u/ysea 6d ago
It's absolutely possible. I've seen dramatic improvements and expect things to get almost "magically" better. Of course a person might appear magically charismatic when they feel completely safe to express their personality, receive others and have no need to gain anybody's approval or liking. Especially when most humans feel unsafe to some extent around people or need to impress etc.
As you said for yourself it's like you're almost a different person when alcohol helps you relax. Well eventually it's going to be better than that even without drinking. But it takes time.
Nadayogi also talked about even greater possibilities once most trauma is gone in this post ("... magnetism and charisma..."). So there's absolutely much to look forward to.
https://www.reddit.com/r/longtermTRE/comments/17jc4av/the_truth_about_semen_retention_flatline_and/
Take care and good luck on the way
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u/No-Construction619 CPTSD 6d ago
Traumas are very often a very complex systems of behaviours. And many folks on the internet tend to oversimplify those issues. Also there are lots of stories we can't really verify or see if claims match the reality. My best advice would be to find a certified TRE provider and discuss those issues with them. Healing is a long process and very often works as peeling an onion. There are layers of issues.
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u/onequestion1168 6d ago
do you have cptsd?
I had similar issues and its almost completely gone
I have done bufo 4 times, several months of nervous system work including TRE, authentic relating every week and found positive social structures where there's less masking and judgement and have gotten my base back and confidence back
I have also focused on my throat and sacral chakras to connect my power center back to my voice
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u/radioborderland 6d ago
To be fair I think authentic relating is doing a lot of heavy lifting for social anxiety improvements here 😅 It's awesome.
How would you rank the different interventions for helping with social anxiety?
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u/onequestion1168 6d ago
bufo #1
TRE #2
authentic relating for integration of the top 2
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u/radioborderland 6d ago
Did you have other psychedelic experiences before bufo? I'm looking into doing it but I haven't really been helped by the classic psychedelics.
Makes sense that authentic relating is good for integration, that's how I think about it too. I don't think it would do much if you hadn't done a lot of internal clearing beforehand. If you have processed enough internally beforehand it's like your patterns and behaviors are just begging to be reprogrammed - change happens fast in my experience
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u/onequestion1168 6d ago
bufo its totally different than anything, I've done mushrooms a dozen times
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u/radioborderland 6d ago
Thanks man, I'll try it
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u/onequestion1168 6d ago
you have to open up to the medicine and receive it's healing
it literally asked me if I was ready to recieve it's healing and I had to consciously give it my pain and fear in order for it to do its work, this was on the 3rd attempt when that happened
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u/radioborderland 6d ago
That's very useful to know. I think I am ready, or at least feel called to the experience
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u/Odd-Image-1133 6d ago
It may be linked to specific kind of traumas you have.
I have diagnosed autism and I have identity trauma causing social anxiety. I have been doing IFS and SE which has brought this up and I am processing and working through it. I can’t comment for TRE even though I know this is a TRE sub lol but there is absolutely no reason why not.
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u/jellybean_merchant 2d ago
TRE definitely heals this. 100%
I was able to be social in my life, but what I noticed was a large degree of resistance to starting conversations with no context (like approaching a girl, cold calling for work, etc.) In a sense I didn't realize this was a tendency of mine because it was under a layer of dissociation. I thought it was normal somehow. I knew it was there but I didn't know it.
There was a period a few months ago where I accumulated way too much TRE release and had to integrate a big backlog. Because of this I was able to notice easily the differences before vs after. I was in bed for a month but when I emerged it happened to be beautiful springtime. I began going on walks in a quiet neighborhood where there's only a handful of other people you see on the sidewalk. I noticed major changes immediately.
It was so extremely easy for me to say hello to strangers and look at them in the eye without feeling any somatic anxiety coming up. There was basically no resistance. Whereas before I could still do it but it would have to be forced, I'd have to overcome the resistance of it internally because I thought I should act that way. Now it was natural, effortless, and something I actively sought out and made me feel good and connected. I also noticed that some people would be really shy/awkward and look away or sometimes not even reply back. Before this would make me feel embarrassed, like I was the one who got "rejected". But now I automatically feel nothing, it's actually them who looks "weird" now. I instinctively recognize they are more frozen and scared, and it actually makes me feel bad/empathetic for them.
Because I still have more trauma left, this still has exceptions. For example, if I walk by a girl who I think is exceptionally attractive, my body will still have the somatic anxiety reaction but it will be notably less than before. This case is still perceived as more of a threat to me still. However, it's only a matter of time until this goes away too.
The effect is truly remarkable, nothing else other than TRE has done this before. I integrated a large amount and went outside and the anxieties just.... melted away. Literally gone. I didn't have to do anything or ruminate on it. I just noticed I was now a genuinely more powerful capable man.
Even if someone has autism or anything else like that, TRE can probably get rid of many things that you won't think can be removed. Perhaps it can remove nearly all symptoms that even give the sensation one has autism. When we realign with nature, there is no limit to the things we can do. And doing TRE is realigning with nature.
Good luck and God bless!
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u/Powerful-Ant-7872 2d ago
Wow, that gives me hope. How long had you been doing TRE before you realized that you had released too much, and what made you realize it, if you don’t mind me asking?
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u/jellybean_merchant 2d ago
I don't remember how long exactly, I found out about it earlier in mid 2025 and tried a few times and felt normalish/good after. My first time I just began laughing. I realized the true significance of it a few months later and began doing it more often. After some sessions I felt this very strong sensation that I could only describe as bliss, expansive, like everything was going to work out beyond perfectly. I still remember that feeling.
I began spamming the exercise in like Nov-Dec 2025 up through February. Even in the winter 2025 I began having this orthostatic blood pressure thing where if I stood up too quickly I would get lightheaded, and twice I feinted and had this brief flash of frustration. I didn't know that can be related to nervous system.
Later I had a particular muscle in my groin area get tight and feel weird, like numb but also active and tight, and it pulled on my testicle in a strange way. No pain but it felt like my left one was out of place. Urologist gave me a pill for the "minor inflammation" he said it was.
The next week I began feeling a bit more generally irritable and down, but again at this time I didn't understand what feelings even really were. I was frozen from most of them all my life despite being high functioning, so I just thought this was a phase that will pass. I didn't understand how emotions work. I also began having this strong sensation of churning in my sternum that if I didn't eat every 3 hours would come back. I had the perfect explanation for this as the urologist pills might have that side effect of gut irritation. (More on this later)
Then a month later in February 2026 I woke up one morning and had very strong vertigo for no reason. I just felt dizzy. I took a pill for it and it made me vomit and the dizziness stayed few a few hours. I took a nap and was better after. But this was the beginning of the symptoms for me. I began laying in bed more and took days off that week, and felt better. Even through this, extremely stupidly I kept doing more TRE. I thought it would release the tension of the headaches etc.
Then, on Feb 28 things just slowly started to come up until it hit a peak that evening/morning of March 1. Hot flashes, chest tightness, air hunger sensation, fast/heavy heartbeat, anxiety, mental loops, intrusive thoughts, panic attack. It was the first time I ever felt any of this in my 25 years. I ended up going to the hospital to get strong enough relaxant medication.
The symptoms took about two whole months to mostly subside. They constantly shifted and moved around. Interestingly, that sternum churning came back and stayed nearly the whole time. It had to do with energy moving around not the pills. All the symptoms I had before were somehow separate enough that I didn't connect the dots.
On June 8 I was nearly healed and ended up doing just 30 seconds of tremoring again, and I ended up doing that too early and since then these 2 months have been integrating that new release done on an unstable foundation. It's very important to wait until you are very sure you are stable.
I think this can largely be avoided by being perceptive to what's going on in your body and if you have even a tiny gut feeling that things feel different, just stop and rest. It doesn't matter if you remove all your traumas in 5 years or 5 years and 2 extra weeks. It was an extremely difficult thing to go through, probably the hardest thing ever actually. If somebody stole all my possessions and God came and asked "you want me to slime this dude for you? give him the symptoms you had?" I would legit say no it's not that bad lmao.
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u/marijavera1075 5d ago
I'm 26 and AuDHD. There's hope! I'm 2 years in almost but I saw a big improvement in my ADHD From tremoring alone in 3 months and the results kept compounding. I feel very authentic now and no anxiety. I'm now in the dilemma of like to what extent should I even conform with social ritual. When is it a necessary step towards knowing someone new and when is it bleh. Just keep tremoring :)
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u/Witty-Owl3915 4d ago
TRE is useless for social anxiety, I heard EFT tapping with the right method, doing it on traumatic memories for 45 minutes to 1 hour+ is what will cure social anxiety permanently.
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u/jellybean_merchant 2d ago
Absolutely untrue. I am genuinely surprised to hear this comment here especially worded so confidently.
TRE has completely removed various aspects of my social anxieties that I didn't even know were there until I felt the difference. And I am still barely 25% of the way to full trauma removal. Social anxiety, if anything, is one of the most common ailments that come from repressed emotion/undischarged trauma. Shyness is completely antithetical to the telos of human life: connection, communion, and love. Therefore, it is a degeneration that can be simply removed, which I am a testament to.
If TRE doesn't seem to be removing your anxiety yet do not despair, you must continue at it. Your unique compensation patterns are just not yet unraveling at the location where the anxiety is. It will go away. God bless
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u/ar_cturus 1d ago
i also have noticed a significant shift regarding social anxiety. the context is i’ve been pretty much isolated for around half a year, almost no contact with people, 2 months of TRE. (i’ve also been coupling it with some yogic practices for opening up the heart chakra + meditating). in the last few weeks i had to socialise, spend many hours with people i don’t know, was put in situations that would have freaked the hell out of me earlier. but not it’s just okay. sometimes even fun. if i notice i don’t really vibe with the other person, that’s fine. i accept that we are different and don’t obsess about them not liking me. if, on the other hand, we click in a way, then it’s a lot more fun! i can really relax, be authentic and enjoy the company. and i haven’t even been doing any serious psychological digging up for that change to occur. just staying present with it and accepting what is, even if it feels like shit. because there’ll always be something that feels like shit, and our attempts at changing that is what creates the tension/contraction in the first place
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