Whenever I'm in a meeting room or classroom for work or say a support group- I can't help but blush whenever I'm asked or required to speak. Obviously, everyone in the room is paying attention to me like people do but I feel like they have locked me in on their radar and I'm completely uncomfortable. I'm embarrassed because it is quite obvious I am blushing and I know everybody else knows I am doing this strange thing turning red. I don't understand what the hell my problem is. I'm a 35 year old adult male if your wondering. I'm so sick and tired of this social fear-anxiety thing! I'm at my wits end with it. I take medication. I expose myself to these situations deliberately in hopes to overcome my phobia. What the hell else can I do?? I welcome your stories and comments. Thank you.
Meeting Rooms and Classrooms
- Thread starter royalx60
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R3K
Well-known member
i agonized through four years of college with massive anxiety attacks before i dropped out. i used to be mad pissed about it, wouldn't be able to sleep because of the aftershocks of each classroom encounter. since then i've had two or three super minor successes in classroom-like settings. was able to mostly control the anxiety and speak somewhat comfortably in front of coworkers and classmates briefly. it gave me a tiny confidence boost, and i still need mad more practice and painful exposures before i'm even near sociably normal, but i can tell you a single small victory can really take the pain's edge off your state of being. it's like spitting on a bonfire as far as defeating the SAD, but as long as you keep spitting and spiting the **** that's messin up your life then if nothing else you prove to the universe (and to yourself) that you're a fighter.
JamesSmith
Well-known member
Ah, speaking in front of a group. This one can make anyone with anxiety shake in their boots. The most scared i've ever been was b4 my first speech in college public speaking class. the worst part about it was b4 the speech, not during it. I didn't do that bad in that class. At the end of the year, we gave one last speech about the class, and I chose to talk about how much i didn't like the class, and people acted like i was being mean. I don't get why people expect us to enjoy doing speeches and be happy about it. I have never enjoyed public speaking, and don't know if i ever will. This was like 6 or 7 years ago so maybe it'd be different now. I thought the most unfair thing about life is that we are born with this dilemma, and the rest of society expects us to be like everyone else. My teacher gave me lower grades on speeches because I am shy. I was well-prepared and everything, but that doesn't matter. You have to be outgoing or be able to act outgoing or you don't get a good grade. That's ridiculous. Schools and society are asking us to be something we are not. I think it's the same as lowering a grade for a guy in a wheelchair just because he can't stand up.