people experience more severe side effects, making treatment with medica -
tion unpleasant or impossible. The main side effect of CBT is an increase 
in anxiety during exposure to feared situations, and this anxiety resolves 
quickly.
UÊMedications for social anxiety may interact with alcohol and with other 
medications. They may also cause problems in people who have certain 
medical illnesses. CBT does not interact in the same ways with alcohol, 
medications, or medical illnesses.
UÊSome medications are difﬁcult to stop taking because they may cause 
uncomfortable symptoms during discontinuation. This is particularly a 
problem with anti-anxiety medications, as well as with a few speciﬁc anti -
depressants. Medications with the potential for dependence should be dis -
continued slowly, under supervision from your doctor. In contrast, physical 
dependence and withdrawal problems are not associated with CBT.