Posted by JahL on November 14, 2001, at 9:09:53
In reply to Performance anxiety » JahL, posted by kitty-layne on November 13, 2001, at 21:55:58
> > Does this sound like you?:
>
> > ...Some social phobias are specific, producing anxiety only when the person must perform an activity in public. The same activity performed alone produces no anxiety. Situations in which social phobia is common include public speaking, acting in a theatrical performance, and playing a musical instrument. Even eating with others, signing one's name before witnesses, or using public bathrooms can be viewed as a public performance. Persons with social phobia worry that their performance will seem excessive or inadequate. Often their concern is that their anxiety will be apparent as sweating, blushing, vomiting, or trembling (sometimes as a quavering voice) or that they will forget their train of thought or not be able to find"" (from: http://www.merck.com/pubs/mmanual/section15/chapter187/187c.htm -MERCK MAN.)
>
> Sounds a lot like me. But it sounds like quite a large number of people I know. How do you know if you have an anxiety disorder, not just normal anxiety?I'm no expert but I imagine something becomes a disorder if it deleteriously affects yr quality of life. IMO this whole thing is about *degrees* of suffering.
In social phobia for example, one's reaction to social stimuli would be *irrational, disproportionate and more intense than is reasonable or comfortable*. The anxiety is a *phobic* response. If anxiety impinges upon yr life to the point at which your social life (& life in general since it's v hard to get through the day w/o coming into contact with people)-or any facet of it, such as public speaking-is adversely affected to a significant degree, then you could be said to be suffering from some form of (social) anxiety disorder.
In the case of public speaking, some degree of nervousness is to be expected, is desirable even, but if such an activity were to induce say, panic attacks, then clearly you have a problem.
The Q to ask is; does my anxiety *significantly* reduce my QOL?
Do I feel comfortable in public?
Also, social phobics tend to suffer from an *irrational conviction* that they are being obsessively scrutinised by others, hence the deep self-consciousness.
Rgds,
J.
poster:JahL
thread:83989
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011113/msgs/84210.html