Uni advice

Hi, I'm Sam. I've just started at Bristol University in England, but I'm having a problem I hope you can help me with.

I'm doing Politics and French, and one of the tasks we have to do for Politics is a ten minute presentation on a certain topic to our seminar group, of about 10 people.

This is an absolute no-go for me. I know I won't be able to do it. I'll get up there and I'll panic. I'll stumble, stutter, twitch and just generally embarrass myself. The thought of ten people watching me for ten minutes is just too much to bear. There's just no way I can do it.

I'm really inclined to just change my course, or just to leave university altogether. I really don't want to though. I find the course really interesting and it's really frustrating that I'm scared off just from this one thing. What is even worse is, the task is compulsory. I really don't know what to do, so I'd be grateful for your advice.

I've made an appointment with the doctor here too, to talk about my SA. The thing is i don't really know how to approach it. Should I directly say that I think I have Social Anxiety or will s/he get annoyed with me for self diagnosing? Or should I just explain everything. I'm really scared s/he'll just me irritated for having to deal with something percieved as unimportant.

I'm just so scared about university. Should I talk to admin and say I have SA? Will they even believe me without a doctor's say-so? I don't want them to think I'm making up exscuses.

Anyway, thank you.

Sam

Hey,
I am in University with SAD and had this same problem recently. I worried none stop about it. It gave me nightmares. The thought of a presentation terrified me.
Eventually I just emailed the prof saying "Is there any alternative to get my marks for the presentation? I have Social Anxiety Disorder and it would be incredibly difficult for me to do. I would feel like I was graded on my social skills rather then my knowledge and understanding of the material. Could I possibly do an essay?"

I was scared to death just to send the email, fearing she would think I was a coward, a pussy, looking for a way out of work, etc. I closed my eyes and hit send. I got a positive response back, she said "absolutely", which was an enormous relief.

As for going to the doctor i am dealing with the same problem. I am fairly certain the doc will tell me not to worry about it, or that it is not a problem, and trivalize the matter.
Able to explain myself clearly in the email, and getting a good response, I decided to type out all my symptoms, external and internal, and write a detailed experience I recently had with social anxiety. I'm planning to give it to the doc and tell them I did my research and found I have SAD, here's th symptoms, and just give them the paper. It will show I am serious i think.

Anyway, Good luck.

I'm at college right now in a program where one of my required classes is a presentation class. Unfortunetly there is no alternative assignments for me to do. I can't even inform my program head about having a mental illness because there's a good risk that I could be kicked out of my program. (It's in a field that requires being psychologically stable.) I didn't even know I had SAD when I started the program, but I'm almost finished it now, so I don't really want to quit.

I just make sure I remember to take my happy pills in the morning and keep my extra large bottle of pepto bismol in my backpack on presentation days. Unfortunetly my mark in the class is a reflection of the level of anxiety I experience during a presentation.

Sam, I agree with scissorhands...send an email to your tutor explaining your circumstances and hopefully he/she will be sympathetic. my sp started halfway through my a-level course but as I didn' t understand what was happening to me and didn' t feel able to tell anyone, it basically spiralled out of control for the next few years...I hardly went into class that year and predictably flunked my exams, scraping a c in art and failing the other 2 subjects. as all my friends went off to uni, I went first onto a foundation art course, which I predictably dropped out of within a few weeks, then got onto another course which I somehow got through even though I was never there(tells you all you need to know about foundation art courses)...I then got onto an hnd course which I dropped out of after a few weeks. I was in mental turmoil at this point and still hadn' t told anyone. I won' t carry on as you' re probably getting the idea by now...basically, get some help now. I was virtually forced to go to the docs all those years ago by my family, but that was around 12 years ago and I distinctly remember that no one once mentioned the words social phobia or social anxiety, and the therapy I endured was an absolute joke( 'if you were an animal, what would you be?'etc...) I' ve spent the last few years dodging the issue..travelling, working dead end jobs, and then finally ending up working for my dad in a small office for low pay. things came to a head in my life last yr and it was then I realised I had to have another crack at, if not beating this thing, then at least trying to cope better with it, so I went to my new docs and told him I had sp and needed help. I' ve since been seeing a councillor at the local hospital and tentatively believe I' ve improved my state of mind a little. I' ve had ups and downs but I knew it wouldn' t be easy and at least I' m now giving it a go. sorry to go on a bit, but this uni thing struck a chord with me, as I see those years( aged 17 - 22) as the absolute lowest point in my life, and I just wish I' d asked for help sooner and there had been more and better info available at the time. good luck and get down the docs now.

Right. I've gone to the doctor's and she's referring me to cognitive behaviour therapy. Has anyone tried it? What's it like?

I saw the politics undergrad tutor too and I asked if I could give my presentation 1-on-1 to my tutor instead and she's going to find out. I don't mind 1-on-1 stuff unlike group work.

I'm going to try anyway. I don't want to give up.

Thanks for everyone's advice.

Sam_I_Am said:

Right. I've gone to the doctor's and she's referring me to cognitive behaviour therapy. Has anyone tried it? What's it like?

I saw the politics undergrad tutor too and I asked if I could give my presentation 1-on-1 to my tutor instead and she's going to find out. I don't mind 1-on-1 stuff unlike group work.

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CBT is meant to be one of the most effective treatments for social phobia. Basically, it's about challenging and changing unhealthy thought patterns. I've found it to be pretty useful.

While I was doing my degree, I had to do a fair few presentations and seminars. Not easy to say the least :!: 8O The way I coped was to practise and practise and practise, until it was so deep down that I couldn't forget it even if I tried. Believe or not, I usually got very good marks.

By now, you would of probably have had to do your presentation- hope it went okay. I also hope you don't have to wait too long for CBT, as I had to wait a fair few months.

Sam_I_Am said:

Hi, I'm Sam. I've just started at Bristol University in England, but I'm having a problem I hope you can help me with.

I'm doing Politics and French, and one of the tasks we have to do for Politics is a ten minute presentation on a certain topic to our seminar group, of about 10 people.

Anyway, thank you.

Sam

Click to expand...

My bro went to Bristol in the mid 90s...

They are a bumber and I hated giving them at uni and I hate giving them at work (not very often).

I've had to give them at job interviews in front of the other candidates and assessors too.

I wouldn't bother telling the tutor. The best policy is:

1. Not to worry about the '10minute' timescale. Aim for 5 minutes - no one will notice!
2. Do some nice slides with photo's if possible. People will be concentrating on those and not you.
3. Have some back up notes in case you forget
3. Volunteer to go first (I ALWAYS do this and do you know why? No one will notice if yours is good or bad because they will be too busy sh*tting themselves about their own presentations!

There are a number of ways to approach this situation. Really depends on what your intentions are.
If you're looking for a quick out with no desire to further your treatment or meet things head on, ask your professor and they will generally sympathize (unless you have a D!ck) and you'll feel relieved for the time being, but in effect you'll just reinforce your false assumption that you were to incompetent to do the presentation and will rob yourself of needed experience of communicating with other people in a political manner that will often present itself in real life. (orrrr maybe not lol)

If you're looking for a quick out but are feeling particulary brave that you're willing to meet your social anxiety head on and take the first steps to battling it and making progress via gaining positive experiences.... I would suggest getting with your general practitioner and requesting a benzodiazepine to take prior to your presentation that greatly alleviates physical anxiety symptoms. This is what I do usually before presentations and it really does help, i've given enough presentations now that I don't have to take the medicine to do them because i've "tested the waters" enough times to know it won't burn me sort of speak. Google benzodiazepines if you have concerns, you'll find good medical sites that explain them in depth... I particularly like emedicine articles or mayo clinic ones as they're very effective.

If you're feeling particulary brave from there you should definitely utilize CBT and instead of reinforcing this thinking pattern that you're incapable of giving presentations that you create positive thinking patterns... this will require professional help and I suggest that you take this path after your presentation to help you in the long term... as for this thread's intentions was to discuss a transiant stressor I'm sure your life is significantly impaired to the point where you need assistance outside of this medium. As do/did I.

Hope to hear from you later! Good health and happy experiences!

Well thanks everyone for the advice.

I've been to see the doctor and been diagnosed. She's prescribed me Peroxetine, and referred me to CBT. All well and good.

I've spoken to my tutors and one let me do it her one to one, and the other one wants me to do it one and one and then decide whether I can do it the week after to the whole group.

I really hope I can do it! I'm certainly going to try. Hopefuly I'll have a better week then. This week has been hard, and I've missed a few classes so far.



How is everyone else?
Sam

Hi Sam

Good to hear you're making progress.

Well done on seeing the doctor. It takes a lot of guts talking about something we perceive to be highly embarrassing. It sounds as if you have some understanding/ sympathetic tutors which is a really good thing. The fact that they're allowing you to do presentations one to one should hopefully make the presentations much more bearable.

As for me, I'm currently trying to discover the perfect job for a social phobic. I may be some time....................... :lol: :lol: :lol:

IceLad

Sam_I_Am said:

Hi, I'm Sam. I've just started at Bristol University in England, but I'm having a problem I hope you can help me with.

I'm doing Politics and French, and one of the tasks we have to do for Politics is a ten minute presentation on a certain topic to our seminar group, of about 10 people.

This is an absolute no-go for me. I know I won't be able to do it. I'll get up there and I'll panic. I'll stumble, stutter, twitch and just generally embarrass myself. The thought of ten people watching me for ten minutes is just too much to bear. There's just no way I can do it.

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Is that prescription?

I'm already on peroxitine hydrochloride.

Sam_I_Am said:

Is that prescription?

I'm already on peroxitine hydrochloride.

Click to expand...

Drugs like Xanax (a benzodiazepine) work immediately after taking them. They actually work better in the short-term for social anxiety. Most people take them when they have an important social function, or a presentation to do.