I haven’t read the entire thread, but for anyone saying “nut up and just get over it” clearly hasn’t experienced the debilitating level of anxiety that I, or the OP has.
OP, I made a thread asking about anxiolytics a while ago and BBB suggested some stuff, I’ve been using Bacopa for a few weeks now and it has helped tremendously (whether real or simply placebo effect, I don’t care because my situation has improved), I plan to start coming off of it shortly as my anxiety symptoms are almost completely gone.
I can relate to public speaking fear. I am accomplished public speaker. I’ve won awards for ability to speak in public, received commendations for my ability of audiences.
However, a few years ago, I had several panic attacks. It only manifested itself when I speak publicly, which I have some reasons why. Through therapy and medication, I’ve learned to work with it. You can never defeat the anxiety. It lurks in the background.
Medication will help, but over time, you need to also use other methods to deal with the fear.
I’m also a bodybuilder and if you saw me, you’d never know I have panic issues.
Good luck with dealing with your fear. Again, the more you address your fear, acknowledge it and deal with it not just through medication, but through other methods- that will help you in the long run.
For those of you saying this is drug addiction or saying just to suck it up, doesn’t this go along the same lines as drinking a couple cups of coffee to get through a long work-shift, or taking nootropics to assist learning and studying? I mean, I guess one could just deal with it, but to me coffee can make a boring job go by a lot faster. I think most people use some sort of ‘performance enhancer’ in their life. Like taking cold medication to function better, coffee to help wake oneself up in the morning, green tea for focus, a couple beers to loosen up at party, and list goes on. I get the feeling that there’s stigma behind this one simply because it isn’t well heard of.
[quote]JLu wrote:
I haven’t read the entire thread, but for anyone saying “nut up and just get over it” clearly hasn’t experienced the debilitating level of anxiety that I, or the OP has.
OP, I made a thread asking about anxiolytics a while ago and BBB suggested some stuff, I’ve been using Bacopa for a few weeks now and it has helped tremendously (whether real or simply placebo effect, I don’t care because my situation has improved), I plan to start coming off of it shortly as my anxiety symptoms are almost completely gone.[/quote]
Thanks for the post, however several times I have said that it’s not debilitating for me. Propranolol is also not classified as an anxiolytic.
[quote]ghost87 wrote:
I can relate to public speaking fear. I am accomplished public speaker. I’ve won awards for ability to speak in public, received commendations for my ability of audiences.
However, a few years ago, I had several panic attacks. It only manifested itself when I speak publicly, which I have some reasons why. Through therapy and medication, I’ve learned to work with it. You can never defeat the anxiety. It lurks in the background.
Medication will help, but over time, you need to also use other methods to deal with the fear.
I’m also a bodybuilder and if you saw me, you’d never know I have panic issues.
Good luck with dealing with your fear. Again, the more you address your fear, acknowledge it and deal with it not just through medication, but through other methods- that will help you in the long run. [/quote]
Thanks for the post. Have you read about propranolol?
[quote]Fletch1986 wrote:
For those of you saying this is drug addiction or saying just to suck it up, doesn’t this go along the same lines as drinking a couple cups of coffee to get through a long work-shift, or taking nootropics to assist learning and studying? I mean, I guess one could just deal with it, but to me coffee can make a boring job go by a lot faster. I think most people use some sort of ‘performance enhancer’ in their life. Like taking cold medication to function better, coffee to help wake oneself up in the morning, green tea for focus, a couple beers to loosen up at party, and list goes on. I get the feeling that there’s stigma behind this one simply because it isn’t well heard of.[/quote]
I hear what you’re saying, but I really don’t want this to become a debate of drug use and “what is ok” and by “whose standards”. It’ll never end.
[quote]angry chicken wrote:
Or you could confront your fear… and conquer it. Just sayin’…[/quote]
Spot on.
I used to have a fear of public speaking. So what I did was start teaching in front of a class of 30-36 people about 15 times a week. That eventually changed to an auditorium of a couple hundred people. That’s the only way you come over your weeknesses. So like some of the other guys said, nut up. Yeah it’s going to suck at first, but would you rather be scared for the rest of your life or dependent on some drug just so you can speak to a room of people?
Go back a couple of weeks in the magazine articles and read that write-up on Kroc. He talks about fears and overcoming them. Go get motivated and make a change.
Gotta’ say, I might have to try this for my next big interview. Usually after having not interviewed in a while my first one blows, I feel like crap about it, and then I do so well on my next few that a job isn’t far off. But with something like this and if it’s a job I really really want, I sometimes can’t help but be nervous and anxious about it, so this sounds like a good option in those situations for someone like me.
[quote]angry chicken wrote:
Or you could confront your fear… and conquer it. Just sayin’…[/quote]
Spot on.
I used to have a fear of public speaking. So what I did was start teaching in front of a class of 30-36 people about 15 times a week. That eventually changed to an auditorium of a couple hundred people. That’s the only way you come over your weeknesses. So like some of the other guys said, nut up. Yeah it’s going to suck at first, but would you rather be scared for the rest of your life or dependent on some drug just so you can speak to a room of people?
Go back a couple of weeks in the magazine articles and read that write-up on Kroc. He talks about fears and overcoming them. Go get motivated and make a change.[/quote]
Apparently that’s about as far as you seem to have read the thread too
[quote]skohcl wrote:
Gotta’ say, I might have to try this for my next big interview. Usually after having not interviewed in a while my first one blows, I feel like crap about it, and then I do so well on my next few that a job isn’t far off. But with something like this and if it’s a job I really really want, I sometimes can’t help but be nervous and anxious about it, so this sounds like a good option in those situations for someone like me.
Thanks for the info![/quote]
Another tool for the toolbox. Let me know how it works out for you.
[quote]demonthrall wrote:
… I also have stage fright, which can be troubling as I play guitar. The first couple of songs at a gig can be rough…[/quote]
You said it right there in your first post. The first couple of songs at a gig can be rough. How is it after that? You get used to the idea and loosen up. It’s not so bad after that, right? Well if you were to play in a gig everyday, the next day is just a little bit easier than the last. You slowly desensitize yourself to the whole thing. That is going to be the most beneficial thing for you, better than taking a drug to help you out.
[quote]demonthrall wrote:
… I also have stage fright, which can be troubling as I play guitar. The first couple of songs at a gig can be rough…[/quote]
You said it right there in your first post. The first couple of songs at a gig can be rough. How is it after that? You get used to the idea and loosen up. It’s not so bad after that, right? Well if you were to play in a gig everyday, the next day is just a little bit easier than the last. You slowly desensitize yourself to the whole thing. That is going to be the most beneficial thing for you, better than taking a drug to help you out.[/quote]
I’m sure you mean well, but you havn’t seemed to have read more than the first post.
[quote]skohcl wrote:
Gotta’ say, I might have to try this for my next big interview. Usually after having not interviewed in a while my first one blows, I feel like crap about it, and then I do so well on my next few that a job isn’t far off. But with something like this and if it’s a job I really really want, I sometimes can’t help but be nervous and anxious about it, so this sounds like a good option in those situations for someone like me.
Thanks for the info![/quote]
When I’m back in the job market, I spend an evening before the first interview thinking of potential questions and formulating answers. You can pretty much figure out what they are going to ask. Makes me feel more comfortable when I get there. I also look at it as I am interviewing THEM and deciding if I want to work for them. Helps change your perspective too. Or. Squats and milk.
Instead of just saying that I haven’t read the thread and ignoring my points, maybe you could make discussion. You seem to have done that to everyone in the thread that didn’t agree with you or take interest in propranolol.
I understand that taking propranolol will blocks most symptoms such as racing pulse, sweatiness, dry throat, upset stomach, and jumbled words. However, if you are using propranolol whenever you have to make a speech then you never learn to deal with and over come any of these effects. That could lead to a dependency on propranolol where you wouldn’t be able to make a speech, or do anything else you are using propranolol for, without taking propranolol. That could lead to an psycological dependency on the drug. This is why I say, in my opinion, it is better to overcome your fears by slowly desensitizing yourself to whatever it is you fear.
As for curing things such as PTSD, has there been any research that you have come across that suggests this over the long term? Do these studies have the goal to “cure” PTSD to the point where the subject no longer needs propranolol? Or do they have the subject live comfortably while continuously using propranolol on a daily basis? If the subject needs to continuously use propranonlol to escape the effects of PTSD, you can hardly call it a cure.
Just skimmed through most of the thread and wanted to share my experience with “public speaking anxiety”. In college, I took public speaking as a sophomore and had a full blown panic attack the first day in class when we had to get up and speak about “whatever we wanted to” (shitty exercise in my opinion) for 5 minutes. Long story short, I pussed out and went to a psychiatrist and was prescribed xanax, valium, and ativan (not all at once but throughout the semester). The class went fine and I got an A. That Christmas I had withdrawls when I traveled home and left my medicine. Let’s just say that was a pretty big wakeup call.
Now I return and am offered the chance to teach undergraduate chemistry discussions so I JUMP on the opportunity. Scared? O yes, but I was tired of using drugs as a crutch and told myself I would overcome this irrational fear. The first class I taught was intimidating: students staring at you, picking you apart in their head. I was terrified the first week. The next week went fine and after that it was cake. The fear never completely went away, I mean I would still get nervous/butterflies before EVERY class but they would subside the first ten minutes or so, along with any shaky voice or clammy hands. Why? Because when youre teaching for an hour your body simply doesn’t have the resources to be that fucking nervous for an entire hour. I had no reason to be nervous. I’m good looking and smart enough to be teaching students my own age. I was locked in my own head and just had to get out. Conclusion: My balls dropped and I banged three girls in my classes that year.
I can tell you’re somewhat naive, especially since you tihnk only world famous people use drugs for performance enhancement. Maybe you better look into what ‘ego’ actually means. Your post only seems to serve yourself, not others.[/quote]
Wow. “Look up what ego means”? That is the best you can give me? OH I SO SAWRY MASSAH! I SEE THE LIGHT!!
If you suck at speaking as hard as you do at arguing, no wonder you’re afraid of it.
As far as MY post being self servient, You started a whole thread looking for nothing but sympathy, attention, and justification for the socially unacceptable practice of unnecessary drug use.
Before you point the finger, make sure your hands are clean.
Personally, I wouldn’t want that nervous energy to go away. Whenever I do presentations over projects, reports, and essays, I find that energy helps liven me up and I become more expressive and vibrant and project my voice better because of that energy. However,I do have to admit that I always stumble over a few words over the course of the first minute or two.
in my own, personal opinion… depression and anxiety are not the same as a public speaking fear. medication may be needed for depression, but not a public speaking fear. what you need for a public speaking fear, is balls.
i’m scared of spiders, is there something i can take for that? so i can kill that spider in my bathroom? cuz that little bugger’s been mocking me.
[quote]jasmincar wrote:
Propanolol is crazy, if you actively remember one of your memories and you inject it right after in the specific area where the memory is actived you stop the synthesis of protein necessary for the reconsolidation of your memory in the long term memory, that means you forget the memory you were remembering before injecting the propanolol
at least in rat
it’s crazy I tell you[/quote]
Have you done any studies yourself or studied it particularly? I’d be very interested to know[/quote]
what the fuck did I wrote I was thinking about Anisomycin, but the two are very similar
you know demonthrall some people dont get it. clearly you dont have a phobia. for example the lead singer for
def lepard sometimes suffered server stage fright durring his life. did he have a phobia, no. my guess just being nervous can escelate (spelling?) and make it more difficult. i dont do public speaking of any form, did
once in HS and never did it again.
how ever i did particiapte in sports and didnt have a problem with that, but it did put me in the “public”. those who rail against doing drugs oare not thinking correctly for this specific topic.since the program you are working seems to doing good for you, it may not work for other people…
as for the beta blocker my understanding of it youy must take it for life for those who have high
blood presure and can suffer withdrawl from it as it will cause the BP to go up again if taking a long time
like 1 yr or longer. but i dont know engough for short periods of time in your cse. a suggestion, why not try
deep breathing techniques and you can google that for more info.