Posted by Rick on August 19, 1999, at 23:54:24
In reply to Re: Bones: Soc Anx/Klon: Horror Stories vs. Research, posted by Bones on August 19, 1999, at 22:16:09
Bones and Douglas -
The length of the combined reprints was becoming intimidating, so I wiped the box clean before starting this post (oops...is that against the rules?).
My primary impetus for finally seeking help was that my symptoms were, after many years of reasonable stability, starting to get worse. For instance, I used to be a little nervous doing presentations; but after a few particularly embarrassing presentation episodes in 1996 I became terrified of them, and made every excuse in the book to avoid them. When I recently had to resume doing presentations a bit more frequently (short ones, with material I know very well), I thought that gradual re-acclimation to the task would help. I was surprised and dismayed to find that this was not the case at all. (The story is much more complex than it sounds, with mixed success and near-panic -- but I won't bore you with the gory details).
And, oddly, talking live or on the phone to people like hotel reservationists, telemarketers, and postal clerks suddenly started getting even harder for me a few years ago. Hey, when you're standing in line at the P.O. with a pounding heart because you're afraid the clerk will perceive your nervousness and ask you -- but not the lady in front of you -- for identification, something's very wrong. It's a vicious circle.
Harkening back to my college days, I'm amazed at the machinations I went through to sign up only for lecture classes rather than those requiring active participation. OK, I admit it: I picked my major based largely on this! And to one of your points, Douglas, even on my current successful med regimen, I still froze a tad and felt my heart flutter when a "let's go around the room and introduce ourselves" bit came up this morning... although I handled the task and the rest of the meeting SO much better than pre-medication! (Note that the references in my posts have been to tremendous improvement, not "100% instant cure".)
I'm actually looking forward to that next big pesentation as the acid test (Xanax, Nardil, and plenty of rehearsal sure didn't help last time). Hey, I just realized...if I'm literally *looking forward* to a presentation, at least to some degree, there MUST be some major anxiety-reduction going on in my brain, at least of the anticipatory sort!
Bones, please let us know how CBT goes. I know that plain old "positive thinking" has helped me a lot in some situations, but over the last few years has lost much of its potency as an anxiety-fighter in certain situations like presentations. But I'm sure it can work wonders for many people, as long as you keep at it.
Good luck to both of you.
Rick
While situation seems to differ from the two of yours' in many ways
poster:Rick
thread:10256
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990814/msgs/10403.html