Social Anxiety

[copacetic]

Aversion therapy?

There is a more positive version of this type of therapy.
You have a "charm".
This charm could be anything really. I normally use a pen.
It is there to give you something to literally hold on to when you are stressed and focuses your mind to the action at hand.

The thing that you can do is some breathing excercises and speech lessons.
It will allow you to focus on the basics, inflection, intonation etc.
Breathing is VERY important as panic attacks happen when breathing is not happening.
Lack of oxygen, panic.

It's not aversion therapy, I would not say. The discomfort of the elastic band hitting you is not really painful, it merely serves as a distraction from your snowballing panic, kind of snaps you back to reality.

Works pretty well actually.

 

[Vox Ego]

It's not aversion therapy, I would not say. The discomfort of the elastic band hitting you is not really painful, it merely serves as a distraction from your snowballing panic, kind of snaps you back to reality.

Works pretty well actually.

It is the same type of therapy that is given to children and young adults when they want to "quell certain thoughts and actions".
It is similar to the "celise" that the catholics use albeit an extreme form of aversion therapy.

 

[grok]

When still doing debate at school our teacher taught us to blow our noses just before going on stage - 'cos apparently it relaxes you or something.
Dunno whether it was a placebo or not but to this day I do this when I'm faced with public speaking & it helps.

 

[Skywalker786]

It sounds like you have panic attacks in specific, well-defined and predictable circumstances. I had something similar with exam situations and my doctor prescribed me Ativan. I take it only when I feel the attack approaching and the correct dosage doesn't drive you to the other "who gives a damn side", it just takes the edge off your anxiety. This may be an option if your doctor finds that beta blockers are not suitable for you.

Stay away from Ativan, I had bad experiences with the stuff.

Elephant burgers...start of small first practice in front of family etc. if its really maybe a couple of sessions with a therapist could help you understand if you have any underlying problems causing your anxiety issues.

 

[d0b33]

There are numerous self help books that teach you to accept and cope with anxiety, fighting it will not make it go away. I have a panic disorder that is severe but I am able to cope with the help of some books I bought, I joined a group too but did not feel it was helpful.

Right now I am feeling anxious due to some social experiences I've faced the past week, this is a sign for me to practice my relaxation exercises but it takes discipline, I am rather lazy and relapse far too often.

 

[murraybiscuit]

drugs can possibly help, but at the end of the day, surely the irrational fear needs to be understood and the behaviour which perpetuates it coped with constructively? otherwise, you have an even bigger crisis worrying about the drugs, and when they go missing, you fall into a heap. i wouldn't self medicate without consulting a gp or psychiatrist first.

but i'd try to deal with it head on before resorting to drugs. don't try to resolve it all at once - just chip away at it. i dislike presenting, but one thing that did help me was a colleague who used to give me feedback on how i presented. they were positive and would pick things up that i didn't notice. eventually, i had much more confidence and could pick up the nuances of myself and the audience better. perhaps it was just nice to know that there was somebody there who was on my side in a sea of hostile faces.

toastmasters is a good idea too. similar people with similar experiences - there's far more people that battle with this than you realise.

 

[Sly21C]

I also have Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) or Social Phobia. In my teens I was still afraid to talk to someone on the phone, afraid or anxious to talk to strangers and afraid of a few social situations. Since I've exposed myself to all those situations that made me anxious I can safely say I'm "cured" of those situations, except for public speaking.

I do speak in public sometimes but my heart pounds as if it will jump out of my mouth. I think the best way to be cured of SAD is to be gradually exposed to scary situations, i.e. speak in public frequently. I don't want to make use of drugs/medicine. Since you said you have been speaking in public for 3 years and the anxiety has gotten worse, I'm starting to doubt that gradual exposure works.

Anywho, I think you must definitely join a Toastmasters club. I also think you must watch the following video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DG8WkdIzSk