taking drugs to cure an anxiety is the wrong way to go about it. all that does is reinforce the idea that the situation itself is one to be anxious in. you need to be able to see the situation as not anxiety provoking to feel comfortable in it.
I tried propranolol for the physical symptoms of nerves (shakes). It didn’t work. Fear can easily be suppressed by rationalizing it. Most people seek to avoid their fears, so they never try to break them down. It’s easier than you think.
[quote]ladieslove wrote:
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]
You can take a rolled up newspaper and kill it or just grab it with your hand and squish the life out of it. The choice is yours.
[quote]goldengloves wrote:
You can take a rolled up newspaper and kill it or just grab it with your hand and squish the life out of it. The choice is yours.
[/quote]
It takes more courage to scoop the spider up in the palm of your hand and put it down outside, unharmed, than kill it through the lack of nerve to carry to the front door…
[quote]roybot wrote:
[quote]goldengloves wrote:
You can take a rolled up newspaper and kill it or just grab it with your hand and squish the life out of it. The choice is yours.
[/quote]
It takes more courage to scoop the spider up in the palm of your hand and put it down outside, unharmed, than kill it through the lack of nerve to carry to the front door…[/quote]
Two insects that I don’t like to kill are spiders and mosquito hawks (aka dragonflies). They are predators who’s natural prey is the insects that annoy us. However, if Ladieslove called me over to kill the spider in her bathroom, and answered the door in something sultry and silkysilkysilkeh, that would be one dead mutherfucker! Killing is great foreplay. 
i’ve killed a spider before, i can do it, i just have to pump myself up to do it. and i have to use a war cry.
This thread reminded me of the Cheers episode where Norm had the dream job of being a beer taster at a local brewery. All he had to do was make it through the interview without becoming a blathering idiot. (He had a fear of interviews) Needless to say he melted down and that image sometimes crops up in my mind before public speaking. Damn it! I usually start with “shaky” voice but after a few sentences alls good.
[quote]ladieslove wrote:
i’ve killed a spider before, i can do it, i just have to pump myself up to do it. and i have to use a war cry. [/quote]
You don’t want to know the things I would do to hear that war cry… 
pretty sure i’d at least wanna know
just to look at this from a nervous system response:
the drug in question is generally prescribed for hypertension (high blood pressure)
what causes high blood pressure? lots of possible causes from sedentary-ness to obesity to STRESS.
stress sensations are often felt before public speaking from racing heart to butterflies.
These are the same responses as fundamental threat. fight or flight. the same hormonal cascade is happening as in stress - including catecholamine release (great for fat mobilization), ephinepherine, etc.
What does a betablocker do? among others it surpresses epihepherine release so that the heart doesn’t race. The whole point is not to have a heart attack. (i’m sorry if i’m stating the obvious here)
SO the proprandol is hitting ONE of the effects of a public speaking issue, and that may be sufficient for a person to cope with the other sensations.
In terms of the nervous system, we’re designed for survival, not performance. If we’re in a threatening situation the body goes into threat response, and in the case of public speaking, that’s not optimal when the goal is performance.
The question might be - are there other non-drug solutions to deal with the panic attack?
Physiologically, yes. A way to start to flush the chemicals from the system - since it is a “run away” response - is to move. The body hears that you’re following its advice and the cascade can start to shut down.
Another approach is to straw breath - inhale normally but restrict the exhalation to pursed lips with a gap the size of a straw and take as long as possible to breath out. Do some joint mobility work - even if it’s just moving fingers and shoulders - all of these physical responses cue the body that we’re responding to the signal.
Another one - longer term - is adaptation. SOmeone said “deal with the fear” - well what does that mean, neurologically and in terms of practical skills? It’s kinda like taking small amounts of poison to adapt. or working out - which raises the adaptation response.
So, how pull back the threat of public speaking? Practice is huge. But practice what? someone mentioned toastmasters. maybe - don’t know what they’re like in terms of teaching skills rather than just presenting lots.
But there may be really way simpler bits to look at for adaptation. It may be - do you know what the qualities of a “good presentation” are. Do you have them? What are the most uncomfortable parts of a talk? as in what part starts the heart racing - and focus on taking that part apart to build up an adaptation.
Anyway, it’s an issue i deal with a lot with my students and colleagues, and having a coach who knows how to work on this kind of practice - and it is a practice - can be a great thing.
My point here i guess is that sometimes just knowing what’s happening physiologically or neurologically can be a good thing. So in this case if the drug is fighting off epinepherine release and we want a physical strategy rather than a pharmacological one, are there options?
there are at least two
a) physical strategies to blow it off
b) adaptation stategies to stop the threat level that triggers it.
best
mc
dr mc schraefel, phd, cscs
ps - here’s a few more strategies i did for my students for coping with stress
http://nopain2.org/geekfit/2009/10/10_tips_to_destress_in_3_parts.html
[quote]demonthrall wrote:
[quote]angry chicken wrote:
Or you could confront your fear… and conquer it. Just sayin’…[/quote]
Any specific steps you suggest, or are you just some idealistic kid?[/quote]
Lots of this type of stuff falls back to the same thing. Whether you fear public speaking, or talking to chicks, the fear is because of a lack of self confidence. These things, if you have never done them before, seem insurmountable. I remember when I first deadlifted 315. I can rep it now. It has become easy. You have to imagine the task is easy. You must imagine life is easy. I know this sounds esoteric as hell, but it is that simple. I teach guitar for a living. And when I show a person the basic premise of reading tablature (a rudimentary form of music reading) and tell them it is as simple as placing your fingers on the string and hitting it, it becomes easy to the student.
So ask yourself if you believe in what you are doing. That will guide you. Other techniques regarding the speaking process include looking above the heads of the crowd. They will think you’re looking at them, which is good. Look at them if you can, but over the head is good. And do not read anything verbatim.
I used to hate public speaking, so I became a teacher. I just saw it as an opportunity to further my skills and develop myself as a person. Most problems can be overcome by facing them head-on, you might be a bit shaky at first, but you will get over it.