Archive for January, 2007
Arriving at the workshop
My daily commute to work was stressful back then. Normally, it was about an hour, to an hour and a half, of bumper-to-bumper traffic, accidents, aggressive drivers – you name it. However, the morning of the big seminar, I found myself pulling into my parking spot without any recollection of how I got there. Obviously, [...]
A week before the workshop - social anxiety and desperate times
As the day of the workshop approached, my anxiety made it impossible to get on with my normal life. 100% of my mental energy was focused on this, seemingly, impossible feat I had yet to perform. Yes, impossible was a good description. No matter how hard I tried to be optimistic and level headed about [...]
Social anxiety and relaxation techniques
Most self-help books and tapes have dedicated at least one chapter to relaxation techniques. Breathing exercises, positive self-talk, soothing music, mental imagery, and grounding techniques are among the most popular. Most of these methods are built on solid scientific research, and there is no doubt in my mind that they are an invaluable resource in [...]
Public speaking - my biggest fear
Without question, my biggest fear is, and has always been, [tag]public speaking[/tag]. Certainly, I’m stating the obvious here since it ranks among the top fears of the general population, let alone social anxiety sufferers. However, I doubt that the average person can comprehend the stark terror experienced by a socially phobic person.
In my case, public [...]
Social anxiety - leaving the rat-race
Since leaving my corporate job a few years ago, I’ve managed to fine tune my life to the point where I’m relatively happy. Looking back, I can see how much the rat-race was harming me, and how anxious and fearful every day was. I doubt that I’ll ever regret the decision to resign, even though, [...]
Self-induced stress
I’ve always believed that stress is a silent killer, and that my social anxiety creates much more stress than is necessary. Compared to an average, non-SA, person, I have always felt that I torture myself with thoughts and feelings that the average person doesn’t have to deal with. Hence, when it comes to my physical [...]
I have social anxiety disorder - who knew?
Five years ago, I had no idea what social anxiety disorder was – well, not officially anyway. I knew that there was something wrong with me – I just didn’t know that it had a name and that millions of others suffered in the same way. Today, knowing that I have an “official” disorder, I [...]