What is Your Major? Is it proving therapeutic for your anxiety, and if so, how?

[Blue Teardrops]

Mine is a derivative of chemical engineering.

My focus is to study how I can design biodegradable polymeric materials that can be used in medicine, and environmental applications. It's a really exciting field that holds a lot of promise for the future.

I'm just entering this field in my major this semester, so I can't really say it's helped my anxiety any. Time will tell. I know there will have to be a lot of teamwork, presentations, and oral communication. So, I'm really hoping it will help me.

Next...

 

[klytus]

You are cool, Blue. I would send you a PM, if I could.

My major is Pure Mathematics. I love it.

While discussions are of eminent importance in the successful study of Mathematics, this academic field does not facilitate social interactions. Teamwork is paramount, in every aspect of modern life, and there is ample opportunity to practice it at a university, however, without using the opportunity, it won't have any (therapeutic) effects on any kind of anxiety.

Exposure (almost) always helps, though.

 

[Blue Teardrops]

Haha, thanks. PM's scare me, lol, sorry. I'm a big chicken.

You must be really smart to study Pure Math. I can do Applied math, but Pure Math, well...might as well stick a fork in my eye, lol. I'm not very good at all the theoretical stuff. I'm in my fifth year in college, and with my earlier major, I just went to class and went back to my dorm. Not much interaction. Now I think I'm going to be forced into interacting with people, and I hate it, honestly, but I'm hoping it will work. I'm taking a German class right now, too, and we are forced to interact with people every class period. I'm avoiding the anxiety meds and just letting things roll. I just hope I don't cause myself to have a nervous break down with all this exposure, lol.

 

[Moonie]

My major was psychology. I enjoyed it.. but it didn't really help with any anxiety issues and it didn't give me much insight about it (not that I chose Psychology for that reason..)

We had a couple presentations and group work in some of my classes, but most of them were just lectures.

 

[klytus]

PM's scare me

And what about instant messengers? -- Online communication is probably amongst the least straining activities.

Now I think I'm going to be forced into interacting with people, and I hate it, honestly, but I'm hoping it will work.

It really depends on the type of interaction which is required in the given situation, I suppose. Most topics will be of a professional nature, thence won't necessitate sharing more private information. You aren't even required to make friends. Since most - if not all - natural sciences are best learned in hindsight, it is not only an essential, it is a natural part of the process to fail, which makes making mistakes - and subsequently learning from them - important, and renders actual failure impossible. Simply put, there is no sense in not participating in discussions because of a fear of failure.

I'm taking a German class right now, too, and we are forced to interact with people every class period.

Du solltest durchaus überdenken, ob du PMs nicht doch zulassen möchtest.

 

[Blue Teardrops]

My major was psychology. I enjoyed it.. but it didn't really help with any anxiety issues and it didn't give me much insight about it (not that I chose Psychology for that reason..)

We had a couple presentations and group work in some of my classes, but most of them were just lectures.

I almost chose psychology.

 

[Blue Teardrops]

And what about instant messengers? -- Online communication is probably amongst the least straining activities.


It really depends on the type of interaction which is required in the given situation, I suppose. Most topics will be of a professional nature, thence won't necessitate sharing more private information. You aren't even required to make friends. Since most - if not all - natural sciences are best learned in hindsight, it is not only an essential, it is a natural part of the process to fail, which makes making mistakes - and subsequently learning from them - important, and renders actual failure impossible. Simply put, there is no sense in not participating in discussions because of a fear of failure.

Du solltest durchaus überdenken, ob du PMs nicht doch zulassen möchtest.

Haha, Es tut mir Leid - Das verstehe ich nicht! Wie sagt man "I am only a beginner" auf Deutsch? Are you fluent in German?
Edit: I put what you said in a translator, now I got it. Haha.

Instant messaging also makes me nervous. I don't have as much time to think out my thoughts. I never IM.

As for professional communication, I am okay with that, even though it still makes me nervous for fear of sounding unintelligent. But it is the informal interactions that really scare me.

 

[N04h]

electronic engineering

 

[Anomaly]

Molecular Biology. I'll be doing plenty of labs, so I suppose it is, in a way.

 

[Noca]

Psychology and Sociology

 

[Kinetik]

I majored in geography/anthropology at university because a lot of it seemed quite straightforward -- it was mostly lectures and projects that one could complete solo. So in a sense, I took the back seat. Sure the subject material had always interested me, but I purposely shot fairly low in order to not stick my proverbial neck out. That all changed when I had to start interacting more with professors further along my academic career though, and by the time the mandatory public speaking class reared its ugly head I knew I was pretty much finished with college. I started becoming too uncomfortable with simply going into the school buildings, and it became a massive ordeal to force myself to go into class every day, so my attendance plummeted. I dropped out with 79 credits and have yet to finish the degree.

 

[klytus]

As for professional communication, I am okay with that, even though it still makes me nervous for fear of sounding unintelligent.

As I said, if you sound unintelligent, you probably said something which wasn't true or wasn't known to be true. People will, if they know better, correct you. And they most certainly know better, because if they weren't to, they wouldn't have noticed your sounding unintelligent in the first place. And if people correct you, you are unlikely to ever make that mistake again, unless you aren't into learning from past mistakes - which would be a mistake in itself. Natural sciences and Mathematics are learned in hindsight. Worded differently, it is essential to fail, in order to succeed.

Wie sagt man "I am only a beginner" auf Deutsch? Are you fluent in German? <...> Instant messaging also makes me nervous. I don't have as much time to think out my thoughts. I never IM. <...> But it is the informal interactions that really scare me.

"Ich bin ein Anfänger", but this might not convey what you want to say in this particular case - unless the context makes it obvious - so I'd suggest, "Ich bin dabei Deutsch zu lernen. Leider kann es noch ein wenig dauern, bis ich fließend sprechen kann." ("I am learning to speak German. Unfortunately it may take a while until I can speak fluently.") And, yes, I am fluent in German. -- If IMs make you nervous, because, say, you may write something stupid, then a forum like this should cause panic attacks, since more than one person can see your mistakes and the posts are significantly less transient than instant messages. -- No one forces you to interact informally. However, it is essential that the team members like each other for good team dynamics. In other cases, no one forces you to interact at all with someone you don't want to interact with.

electronic engineering

Molecular Biology. I'll be doing plenty of labs, so I suppose it is, in a way.

You two are cool, too.

 

[Nicholas]

My major is nothing now. After five years of trying to study, fighting fears and problems, convincing myself I was going to be normal soon and then I would move on with my studies and be happy and successful... I'm giving up, I'm about to drop out, right now, in a few days.

Thanks to my troubles I have realized that maybe what I was studying is not really the right thing for me, and now I know myself better. But because of my troubles I have been wasting too much time in what was expected to be the best part of a person's life.

If I had to choose something now, maybe I would study psychology.

 

[CelestialDreams]

My major is nothing now. After five years of trying to study, fighting fears and problems, convincing myself I was going to be normal soon and then I would move on with my studies and be happy and successful... I'm giving up, I'm about to drop out, right now, in a few days.

Same here.. spent five years and have nothing to show for it except a ridiculous amount of unnecessary debt and an Associate's degree that isn't worth much of anything. I tried fighting my fears, but when it came down to it, if a class had a presentation, I'd end up withdrawing from it.. when I attempted to be social and felt like I didn't succeed, I'd withdraw from class then too.. I ended up withdrawing from several classes for a few semesters and racking up all that money. The only reason I actually finished what I have was due to taking pretty much everything online. At first I was thinking of majoring in psychology, then it changed to math. Things have just gotten worse though, and I currently am not sure of any major I could conceivably go into.

 

[this_portrait]

I have two majors; one in journalism and one in photography. I guess you could say it's sort of helping me get over my anxiety (and SA in general), because of the tasks required of the field, not to mention I've been taking advantage of some opportunities offered lately.

 

[2Crowded]

My major is...Loserisum...im doing fairly well with it so far.

 

[timidhorse]

Mine is/was pre-vet, but it's proving taxing because of all the labs. Started off on the wrong foot, so I am looking into other majors. I hear computer science, graphic design, and library technology are especially good for those with SA. Especially library technology, you just attend library classes and know basic arithmetic, reading and writing.

 

[klytus]

I hear computer science, graphic designer, and library technology are especially good for those with SA. Especially library technology, you just attend library classes and know basic arithmetic, reading and writing.

Choose something you truly love. Anything else won't work. The motivation for studying some subject must be intrinsic - it must come from the inside. Extrinsic motivation, like a desire to minimize the stress you have because of SA, won't be powerful enough to carry you through the years. Computer Science is a very complex subject, and if it isn't your degree will be useless, because you have chosen the wrong university. And all subjects require passion. An innermost desire for a deeper understanding of whatever the particular subject is about or applicable to.

 

[timidhorse]

Choose something you truly love. Anything else won't work. The motivation for studying some subject must be intrinsic - it must come from the inside. Extrinsic motivation, like a desire to minimize the stress you have because of SA, won't be powerful enough to carry you through the years. Computer Science is a very complex subject, and if it isn't your degree will be useless, because you have chosen the wrong university. And all subjects require passion. An innermost desire for a deeper understanding of whatever the particular subject is about or applicable to.

But all those I've listed, I am into. I just can't decide between them really, I love animals, I draw really well and into graphic art with the Gimp program, I am into computers, and I love reading books and being a librarian.

I also think about being an elementary teacher. I wonder if I can be all of them at once, life is just too short.

 

[Blue Teardrops]

I have two majors; one in journalism and one in photography. I guess you could say it's sort of helping me get over my anxiety (and SA in general), because of the tasks required of the field, not to mention I've been taking advantage of some opportunities offered lately.

I used to dream of studying journalism and becoming an international news correspondent and starting my own good-quality news company as a fresh alternative to the lousy media outlets that exist today. When I was still in high school, my school's guidance counselor that I worked for during fifth period came to me asking me if I thought this other girl would be a good candidate for a scholarship that encouraged women to get into journalism. At that moment in time, I was still deciding what to do with my life (and still am), and I always knew I would like journalism....I was all for it myself and said I would love to apply for it too, and she said, "But you're not a free spirit." I had exceptional grades, was well-liked by my teachers, etc. but yet she did not have any faith that I could do it. What she did was crushed my "un-free" spirit. I got over it.

But in the end, I decided to take another path, and I'm not regretful of the path I did choose.