Posted by Sleepy on November 14, 2001, at 13:55:56
In reply to Talking(in front of people), posted by tensor on November 12, 2001, at 17:13:50
This is a little odd, but thought I would just toss it out there. I grew up with a fear of talking in front of people, then overcame it in college (those pesky presentations in grad school helped). I'm bipolar though, and for some reason things like getting up in front of people touches off manic episodes. Now I STILL can't go to a party or have a one on one conversation with someone I don't feel completely comfortable with. And I still freak out at social events unless I duck out periodically for "breathers." In the past I've had a couple of very extreme bouts of agoraphobia. I'll always be socially awkward and have a lot of anxiety when it comes to being in a roomful of people. I can't have a conversation with another mother while I wait outside of my son's school building! But I can get up in front of an auditorium full of people, no problem. The only thing I can figure is that when I'm doing a presentation I'm not myself. I look at it as a performance and for some reason that makes all the difference. I guess because it's not personal. Go figure!
~SleepyHi again,
>
> Does anyone have problems with talking in front of people and talking person to person? I'm not talking about the common fear that nearly everybody possess. I have Panic disorder and get treatment for that, Buspar 20mg/day and it helps my anxiety/PD pretty well but the talking problem remains unsolved. This problem arised concurrently with the PD. This is a big problem for me since i'm studying, and to do a presentation is impossible since I completely panic. I have diazepam prescribed for me, but even diazepam falls short when it comes to presentation.
> This problem is, for me, a bit strange since i'm a rather social person. I don't know what to do, does anyone recognize this?
> I would really appreciate someone to share experiences with...
poster:Sleepy
thread:83989
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011113/msgs/84260.html