Help

[Paul_]

Hi. I’m new to this forum but I wonder if anybody could help. I am in final year of a university degree in which I have just started my last semester. In the last week I have been told I have to do 4 oral presentations within the next 4 months and I am so scared. In the past I have done presentations most of which have done well ie I do not have a panic attack or just freeze up but in others I have had a panic attack and I am fearful this will happen again. Due to this and other factors my sp has become worse over the last year.

About six months ago I decided that I needed to do something to cure my social phobia. So I booked an appointment with a doctor who referred me to a counselor. In which he gave me information on CBT (cognitive behavior therapy) which I think would have worked if I had time to put time into it but I have not due all my uni work, so I have kept all the relaxation techniques in a folder to come back to when I have more time (in between which I have to do four oral presentations). When I told my counselor these techniques were just causing me more stress because they were too time consuming , I hinted that I thought anti depressive drugs or SSSIs might help but he did not agree and so he would not prescribe them so that is not an option unless I see another counselor who does prescribe them. Another option would be to quit university until I am more confident but I think that is the easy way out and it seems a shame that I would fail a degree just because I am scared of speaking in front of a group.

I’ve been looking through similar web sites and the main methods of curing sp seem to be CBT or prescribed drugs and neither of these seem to be viable to me at the moment. I just wondered if anybody has had success using other methods or if they had any success in using non prescribed drugs.

It seems weird telling people this who don’t know me and I don’t know myself, but hopefully after writing and reading some more posts I will begin to know you better.

I hope somebody can help
Thanks

 

[Yossarian]

Hmmm.... I wish I could help I really do but I'm still here after 10 years so..... you should definately not quit university, I'm so pleased you haven't. It could well be something, if you did that would make you depressed and less motivated, feelings of failure etc which would make overcoming SP harder I reckon. I have told myself.....no I'll focus on overcoming SP first which is just an easy way out like you say. The end result is achieving nothing.

Maybe you could talk to someone at university, I'm not sure exactly who or how they could help but it is within their interests help you. Not to mention the fact most people are kindhearted and want to help. CBT sure seems like a good thing, I have never done it so I am not sure....but even the act of trying to overcome it and do something is better than nothing. If you do nothing, nothing will change. Maybe they could find ways to give you more time for CBT?

As for drugs, they seem to vary according to the individual. Many people would prescribe them so maybe you need a second opinion etc You have that right so don't be afraid to use it. Mental illness is such a blurry subject, many proffessionals will disagree with diagnosis let alone treatment so if you believe drugs might help keep trying!!

I've had no success so who am I to say.... I wish the best of luck. I hope you can find a way forward. But please don't give up on Uni etc I guess in the end it's really up to us to push past the fear. Whether it's with the help of drugs, therapy or what not. Hope it works out for you.... and you receive more sage advice :lol: Again, good luck.

 

[GettingThere]

I would recommend getting a second opinion. It certainly can't do you any harm to do so. Medication has really helped me but the effects of it vary from person to person.

 

[Paul_]

Thanks, The problem with getting a second opinion is that my last counselor said that the next step on the national health service would be a more specialized counselor (any ideas who this could be) where there is about a six month waiting list which is too long. The other option would be to go private which would be too expensive unless I get my parents involved who are against me going on meds. Reading other posts on this forum it seems to me that meds seem to given more out more freely in the US or Australia than in the UK

 

[MrMr]

Thanks, The problem with getting a second opinion is that my last counselor said that the next step on the national health service would be a more specialized counselor (any ideas who this could be) where there is about a six month waiting list which is too long. The other option would be to go private which would be too expensive unless I get my parents involved who are against me going on meds. Reading other posts on this forum it seems to me that meds seem to given more out more freely in the US or Australia than in the UK

the therapy that they are talking about is probably cbt.meds are ok,but you should also try therapy.your lucky that you parents would be willing to pay for this,have a look around to see what private therapy is available to you.good luck.

 

[Nightshade]

I've taken medication and done CBT. I've only recently started the CBT (I also had counselling in the past that wasn't CBT but it helped a bit). I can say that for me 2 months of CBT is already doing me more good than years of medication.

How about using the CBT to work specifically on things that might help you give your presentations? You could try telling your counsellor that right now this aspect of your SP is what you most need to deal with and put the challenge to them to find an approach. Honestly, the time would be worth the investment. And that is their job.

The other thing I'd like to say is that for me, yes medication did help, but it wasn't quite as simple as "take a pill, feel better" (I should add that the medication was originally prescribed to treat depression, but the antidepressant that has worked best for me is an SSRI, which is also used for SP - funny that)

I was at university when I was first prescribed antidepressant medication.

The first one they tried turned me into a zombie. I was struggling to concentrate before I started the medication, once I took the pills all I did was walk into the library, sit down at a desk, get out my work and fall asleep for half the day. I only took the medication for 3 days before I decided that surely this was not the desired effect.

The next one was a bit better, although I had to experiment quite a bit before I found what time of the day I could take the medication to allow myself to actually be able to get up before midday because it made me sleep and sleep. However after 4 months I really wasn't much better and was sent to a psychiatrist.

She progressively lowered the dose then took me right off the one I was on, while adding another in. I wasn't quite so sleepy but I was still depressed and anxious. So she doubled my dose and told me to take 2 months off university (which I did).

And after a month of doubled dose and time off I actually started to improve. That was just over 6 months after I first started taking the medication. I honestly don't know whether it hastened or delayed my recovery from depression, and the SP has never gone away no matter what I was taking.

I just telling you this as a warning that medications for treating mental illness are complicated, and not necessarily a quick fix. My life would be harder without medication, but it really took me 4+ years to get the medication sorted out.

This doesn't mean that you would have the same experience, but it is worthwhile to know what you are getting yourself into with medication.

Good luck, and good on you for sticking with your course.