Topic Title: What do you call what I am experiencing?
| |  "What do you call what I am experiencing?"
, Thu 23 Mar 15:49
Hello all. I consider myself a pretty social person and fairly confident. Since I graduated from college three years ago I have been battling with severe bouts of anxiety and depression. I believe the main reason why my anxiety occurs is when I begin to prepare for job interviews or for a speech. It seems these two incidents trigger all kinds of crazy symptoms like upset stomachs, irrational thoughts, paranioa, irritability, trouble speaking properly, feeling anxious socially, and a lump in my throat. The trouble speaking properly really bothers me because I allow myself to run with it. It gets to the point that I critique everything out of my mouth, which makes me even more anxious and I feel even less confident. That's when the lump in my throat comes and my voice becomes distorted because I am so nervous. It seems like the symptoms come and go and that really scares me. I can't go into a job interview or go to work and have a panic episode because it will be really embarrassing and I probably wouldn't get the job if I show vulnerability like that. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Posts: 1 | | Registered: Tue 21 Mar 2006 12:44 |
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| | "Re(1):What do you call what I am experiencing" , Fri 24 Mar 16:18
P.s Personally, I think you probably put yourself under so much pressure to talk by tellin yourself things along the lines of"I MUST talk and be on the ball, and its terrible when I foul up with lumps in the throat" that you work yourself up really bad, instead of tellin yourself "Id like to do well, but if I dont then thats too bad, its not the end of the world." or "this unfortunate symptom may go away with time" We all mess up sometimes,or have interviewers who dont like us, or get panicky in some situations, its an unfortunate fact. We cannot control the destiny or thoughts of another person i.e the interviewer-he or she has her own pjerogative and thoughts, or our bodies totally and utterly.
you may then also make the fundamental mistake that a lot of people do by saying to yourself "this bad result means that im bad" or "this failure will make me a failure." this is illogical cos you have succeeded on many occasions. You have effectively overgeneralised one tiny little event into equalling your past,present and future life. Is this realistic and logical? I think not.
We all like to give good impressions, and its PREFERABLE and HIGHLY ADVANTAGEOUS to give good impressions, but if we tell ourselves that WE MUST DO WELL, OTHERWISE ITS THE END OF THE WORLD, we awfulize and dramatize a situation, which releases stress chemicals in the body, and hence panic and anxiety and depression.
Id take the approach of preference and acceptance - (which can be mistaken in our forceful capitalist society as resignation or a lack of focus), by showing ourselves that we dont have to put ourselves under so much pressure. Logically, you dont HAVE to do well in interviews at all, you could quite happily get a job where the interviews are easy or really annoy the interviewer with stupid remarks, but you wouldnt cos thats unpreferable. but my point is that you do have a choice, even though subconsciously or semi-conscioulsy we may insist that we dont, with irrational thinking.
take it easy and goodluck, Ive been there and it can get much easier thankfully. Unconditionally Accept yourself with your lumpy throat, sweaty arms, whatever, swat up on your interview techniques or presentation materials, and it may become a lot easier. the emotion at the core of this may be shame;fear of dissaproval and non-acceptance of your unfortunate physical symptoms, which are indeed frustrating at times. but dont awfulise them.
Give SJW a go and give it a few weeks, try different techniques and approaches and see what works for you. ABove all, never put yourself down. You are unique with many different aspects, and do not rate yourself entirely by your mistakes,moods, symptoms etc. You are more than a sum of parts. much more.
Posts: 21 | | Registered: Thu 3 Nov 2005 13:54 |
| | "Re(1):What do you call what I am experiencing" , Fri 24 Mar 15:56
Tigerman you are experiencing anxiety and nervousness - you are anxietising. Try and be a bit easier on yourself. I used to feel the same.
But think to yourself - so what if someone sees me having a panic attack? Its unpleasant but is not the end of the world. Its often when we awfulize our symptoms or some aspect of our lives that it increases our stress hormones and hence we have the emotional rollercoaster. It may or may not give a good impression but will worrying about it make your situation any better?
Id definitley recomend some form of relaxation. Some theories and research suggest that it slows the brain down to alpha brainwaves which give the brain a better chance to heal itself and the body. Anxiety creates and is created by rapid beta levels. More time in Alpha is better generally, and is a relaxed and flowing state. Also bloodflow reaches all parts of the brain, and allows us to think more clearly, instead of bloodflow being diverted to the animal brain which makes us want to fight or to take flight in a situation.
Unfortunately there is no easy answer and hopefully youll find something which works, but by all means try some herbal treatments, and best of luck, warm wishes.
Posts: 20 | | Registered: Thu 3 Nov 2005 13:54 |
| | "Re(1):What do you call what I am experiencing" , Fri 24 Mar 00:58
If you feel that the anxiety / depression is really beginning to impact upon your life and you've tried all the obvious stuff like exercise, diet and trying to reduce your stress levels, then it may be worth trying some form of anti-depressant.....either natural supplement, like SJW or prescription.
Different things work for different people (depression / medication is very far from being an exact science) so it's difficult to be too prescriptive about what may be best for you. Much of it boils down to trial and error and picking things up as you go along.
The more you research possible natural supplements / prescription medications the more you realise there is a huge quantity and bewildering variety of possible treatments. However, SJW is probably as good a starting point as any; possibly in combination with a B-vitamin complex and/or 5HTP and an Omega 3 supplement.
Good luck.
Posts: 167 | | Registered: Sun 29 Dec 2002 11:31 |
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