Should I tell my coaches about my social anxiety?

[sadbjj]

I have signed up to go to a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class as a behavioural experiment for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and need to fill out a form. It is asking if i have any disabilities, illnesses or relevant health concerns my coaches should know about.

Should they know about it? Should I tell them I'm having CBT? Should I write in the form that I have Social Anxiety Disorder?

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Speaking as a BJJ instructor, I would find that info helpful when teaching a student. It would help me make any necessary adjustments to make sure you had the best experience in class.

However, I have a decent amount of experience interacting with people who suffer from social anxiety off the mats and am comfortable making those sorts of adjustments. Not all BJJ gym cultures are the same and not all BJJ instructors have the same sort of philosophy in teaching students with certain types of challenges. I know other instructors who would do a very good job of using that info to help you in your training journey and others who ... probably wouldn't.

If your social anxiety is severe enough so that you think it might affect your training, then I would go ahead and disclose it. If it turns out that you are trying out a gym with an instructor who doesn't have a helpful attitude in dealing with it, then it's probably best to find that out early on so that you can look for a different school that might fit your needs better.

 

[HighKick]

Absolutely include the info. In no way is it a judgement. Just information to help both instructor and practitioner get the most out of the training. If it makes you feel more comfortable, have a one-on-one conversation. This would hopefully assuage any concerns and give you a better understanding of the instructor's personality.

 

[KenpoMaster805]

absolutely you have to tell them its important what if something happened to you or you have an anxiety and they dont know me i told them i have learning disability i have high blood and etc i have a heart congenital defect to thas why i dont spar

 

[drop bear]

It helps. And it helps if you tell your training partners. Most people are pretty forgiving if they know what is going on.

 

[JowGaWolf]

I'm not sure if you should tell being that you are doing an experiment. Your experiment may vary depending on if your coaches and training partners know this information.

If it wasn't an experiment then I would tell you to let them know. If they are good teachers then they have probably come across this more than once and have some general experience in assisting people with the same condition.

Sometimes activities like martial arts help and other times they have no affect. To me it seems that those with an open mind are more likely to have a positive result.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

I'm not sure if you should tell being that you are doing an experiment. Your experiment may vary depending on if your coaches and training partners know this information.

If it wasn't an experiment then I would tell you to let them know. If they are good teachers then they have probably come across this more than once and have some general experience in assisting people with the same condition.

Sometimes activities like martial arts help and other times they have no affect. To me it seems that those with an open mind are more likely to have a positive result.

Experiments in CBT aren't what you might consider an experiment. It should be fine in terms of that letting them know he has social anxiety.

To the OP, I've been debating responding, to avoid interrupting another therapists set-up with you. But if letting them know is something giving you significant anxiety beforehand, it is probably worth mentioning to your therapist (or filling in on your notebook/sheets, if you have an emotion sheet), as a potential to role-play in a session or with family/friends. Telling others about your mental health issues is a pretty big one that causes people anxiety - even people without an anxiety disorder!
Outside of that, bring your concerns/questions to your therapist, and see what they say.

 

[Tigerwarrior]

Experiments in CBT aren't what you might consider an experiment. It should be fine in terms of that letting them know he has social anxiety.

To the OP, I've been debating responding, to avoid interrupting another therapists set-up with you. But if letting them know is something giving you significant anxiety beforehand, it is probably worth mentioning to your therapist (or filling in on your notebook/sheets, if you have an emotion sheet), as a potential to role-play in a session or with family/friends. Telling others about your mental health issues is a pretty big one that causes people anxiety - even people without an anxiety disorder!
Outside of that, bring your concerns/questions to your therapist, and see what they say.

I mean I did. I have an anxiety disorder and do cbt too and getting to training has helped me alot. I told my teacher because if I have a panic attack or act weird like leaving the mat randomly to go sit down so I can pick myself up, I told them so if they see these things they know I'm not a weirdo and they will show me some patience. I get anxious around people I don't know well and also people who are very close to my personal space, but training I'd helping alot and I think this is something that will be good for you, even if bjj isn't the right fit there's plenty of other styles too. Keep up fighting and keep kicking anxieties butt.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

I mean I did. I have an anxiety disorder and do cbt too and getting to training has helped me alot. I told my teacher because if I have a panic attack or act weird like leaving the mat randomly to go sit down so I can pick myself up, I told them so if they see these things they know I'm not a weirdo and they will show me some patience. I get anxious around people I don't know well and also people who are very close to my personal space, but training I'd helping alot and I think this is something that will be good for you, even if bjj isn't the right fit there's plenty of other styles too. Keep up fighting and keep kicking anxieties butt.

You quoted me, but it sounds like you are meaning to reply to OP. That was @sadbjj

 

[Tigerwarrior]

You quoted me, but it sounds like you are meaning to reply to OP. That was @sadbjj

Yeah sorry. @sadbjj That reply was for you. I messed up and hit the wrong reply button.

 

[Hanshi]

It is vitally important that you let your coach know about anything of concern and he needs to know about your CBT because it will prepare him to target the best ways to both teach and help you.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

It's been a while since you posted this, but I'll drop a thought for those reading it later. If you can't trust an instructor with this information, can you trust them, in general? Your social anxiety will play a role in how you best learn, and I'd want to know about it. I'd also want you to feel safe enough to ask for that understanding.

I had students with rape trauma, abuse trauma, and other sources of trauma that I knew of. Most didn't share it to start with - only after something in class triggered it. I don't blame them for that - it's can be awkward to share that, and they don't know going in how I'll react to it (I have some very basic training in dealing with trauma responses, but I think most instructors do not). If I'd known it in advance, I could have eased them into those situations, to find out where they could train without having to experience the full trauma reaction.