Audrey from Toulouse

Audrey is a 41-year-old young woman who has been joined by the Toulouse housing team since 2012.
She has been struggling for years with a sense of loneliness with a sense of inner emptiness and boredom that worries him greatly. Even if she has a supportive entourage, friends and helpful people. Audrey has a sense of fear of emptiness and loneliness that drives him to drink. This fear drives her to take drugs that make her feel "full." She says she suffers from a social phobia that often makes it difficult for her to leave the house alone. She couples her fear of going out with the fact that she's terrified of falling in the street and being ridiculed. The most important thing for her is that she can go unnoticed when out on the street, even become invisible if she could. She apparently can't stand being the center of attention.
But don't come off as a real handicap in her life. Even from people coming to her house, she loses some autonomy for shopping, she missed activities, just the outdoors like walking in a park...

The tool of the dragon

For all these reasons, and after the Erasmus training to deal with loneliness, the social workers of the housing team think that the dragon's tool can be a tool that can help Audrey fight her fears and they propose to her to work with the dragon. dragon tool experiment.
The tool was presented to Audrey during a home visit.
She was invited to try and think about all the possibilities when she goes out. For example, the worst thing for her would be to go outside, actually fall and people laugh at her. But it is better to go outside, not to fall and no one is watching her.
And in between, many possibilities could happen when she goes out, some better and some worth:
- Falling and helping people
- Don't fall, but people notice her and laugh for another reason
- Fall but no one is watching her...
- Don't fall but meet someone to discuss

Many things can happen on the street, but she'll never know what if she doesn't try to go out!

Fighting Fear

Thus, this tool allowed Audrey to measure how much her fear decreased when it was relativized to more or less significant "risks" compared to her fear of going out alone.
She feels ready to try going out!
The following week, the team was able to suggest going out for coffee on the patio outside her house. For this first step, with their company.
She is smiling and relaxed. Don't feel anxious at all.
She even plans to do wellness outdoor activities with the team next time and spend more time outdoors.
It's a real win for her and the team. And we will continue to use the toll for the next step, to go out alone!