Overcoming Speech Anxiety

What is Speech Anxiety?

Speech anxiety, aka Glossophobia, is a common fear, up there with spiders, heights and snakes in terms of worldwide popularity. Glossophobia.com report that 75% of the population have a form of speech anxiety and;

...statistically, far more of us claim that we would prefer death to giving a speech; even comedian Jerry Seinfeld used to joke that at a funeral, most people would rather be lying in the casket than delivering the eulogy.

Thoughtco.com define speech anxiety as:

Public speaking anxiety (PSA) is the fear experienced by a person when delivering (or preparing to deliver) a speech to an audience. Public speaking anxiety is sometimes referred to as stage fright or communication apprehension.

What does Speech Anxiety feel like?

I began to develop a speaking stutter when performing class readings in secondary school (possibly induced by the anxiety of the occurring squeaky voice of teenage boys), while I attempted to overcome shyness in social situations by drinking far too much alcohol to have the courage to approach, particularly, women. I recently massively stressed over giving a best man's speech for months preceding the event... so I can certainly empathise with this phobia! Though I'm not sure I would opt for Seinfeld's casket instead, it would certainly be tempting!

Experiencing speech anxiety feels horrible. Increased heart rate, sweats, feeling of blood rushing to your head and face, slurred speech, shaking/trembling, nausea/vomiting, dizziness, muscular tension. It is the classic fight/flight response.

When I was at school my flight response was essentially to feign illness so I did not have to do the class presentation. To some this means avoiding taking job interviews/presentations that have the knock on effect of impairing career development. To others it is avoiding social events where new friends/connections could be made.

Glossophobia can therefore have a massive negative impact on life quality; but does it necessarily need to be that way?   

What causes Speech Anxiety?

Healthline.com report that:

Many people who have a strong fear of public speaking fear being judged, embarrassed, or rejected. They may have had an unpleasant experience, like having given a report in class that didn’t go well. Or they’re been asked to perform on the spot with no preparation.

Though social phobias often run in families, the science behind this isn’t understood. A 2002 study reported that breeding mice that show less fear and anxiety resulted in offspring with less anxiety. But more research is needed to assess whether social phobias are hereditary.

Testing conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health found that the brains of people with social anxiety have a heightened response when negative comments were read to them. The affected areas were those responsible for self-evaluation and emotional processing. This heightened response wasn’t seen in people without the disorder.

How to overcome Speech Anxiety?

First it is essential to identify the underlying causes of your anxiety, and from uncovering the root of your problem you can then focus upon it. Is it self esteem/confidence? Is it comparing yourself to others and thus unfairly judging yourself? Is it feeling the eyes of the room upon you? Was it a horrendous previous experience that has affected you in particular? Do you generally feel under-prepared in speaking situations?

Learn Better Breathing Habits

When people start to experience anxiety, they tend to have shallow breathing. This can just add to anxiety and increases your heart rate. If you want to overcome anxiety, it can help to learn deep breathing habits. Practice breathing in through your nose while making sure that you are expanding your lungs from top to bottom. That means that your diaphragm should move as well while you breathe. Once you have breathed in, hold it in for a few seconds, and then slowly exhale it out through the partially open mouth. Once you have completed your exhale, start again.This can help to calm your nerves and settle your body.

Practice Visualisation

When we experience anxiety about something, we tend to focus on the negative repeatedly. We circle through it in our heads over and over again thinking about all the things that were afraid of regarding the situation. You can overcome this by practising positive visualisation. Practice thinking about yourself speaking in front of a group and doing a great job. If you have a specific speech or presentation that you will be giving soon, visualise yourself giving that over and over again. This can help you build your confidence and feel more comfortable with the task at hand.

Join A Group To Practice Your Skills

If you are in a position where you're going to need to be speaking in front of people on a regular basis, it can help to join a group that helps you practice your skills. Toastmasters International is one such group that helps you do this. You can work on developing your skills with peers that are doing the same. There is no fear of judgement.

Be Prepared

There are many ways that you can prepare for a speech to overcome speech anxiety. Start by making sure you are familiar with the material you're going to be speaking about. Then, practice it. Make sure you are familiar with the location where you are going to speak and make sure you know how to get there. Find out where to go once you arrive, and then make sure you're not rushing before you have to speak.

Practice Self-Care

Practising self-care can go a long way in helping you overcome speech anxiety. Start by exercising on a regular basis. Exercise helps to cut anxiety and boost your mood and confidence. If you have to give a big presentation or speech, make sure that you exercise the morning of.

Make sure that you eat foods that are healthy for you and will help to calm your body. Avoid having caffeine or sweets the day of your presentation. Avoid the morning cup of coffee, the soda, or the sugary muffin from Starbucks. Instead try to eat things like whole grains, fruit cups, and stay well hydrated. Make sure you use the restroom before your presentation since you will be drinking more water.

Make sure you dress your best and wear something that you are comfortable wearing. This will help you to feel more confident when you get in front of a group. Don't wear clothes that you feel like you will need to keep pulling at, readjusting, or be concerned about in any way.

Change Your Focus

When we suffer from speech anxiety, we are focused on ourselves. One way to improve this is to change your focus from yourself to your audience. While you are talking, focus on the friendly faces in the crowd. Instead of worrying about how you look, how your voice sounds, or if you're going to get your words right, focus on delivering valuable information to the audience. Think about how the information that you're giving them is going to help them and improve their lives. Keeping the focus on your audience removes your focus from yourself which can help ease anxiety.

Talk To A Counsellor

If you experience strong anxiety when you need to speak in front of other people, it can help to talk to a licensed therapist. They can work with you to help get to the root of the problem and then address it in a way that helps you to overcome it. Better Help has professionals that are ready and waiting to help you overcome your speech anxiety. It's an affordable and convenient option for you to use.

I feel I (at least mainly) overcame my glossophobia through slowly building my self confidence in social speaking situations. My recent best man's speech went very well, and I felt so relieved/overjoyed in completing it I now feel a new confidence to do another one (though from the content of the speech I am not so certain I will ever be asked again). For me preparation is essential before any presentation, going over the material so well that you know it, and visualise yourself performing. I would not say I am a natural public speaker and most like never will be, but it is not something I waste precious time and energy stressing over. 

How Hypnotherapy Can Help With Addiction

How Hypnotherapy Can Help With Addiction

Addiction is a mental health crisis that can ruin people’s lives. When you’re addicted to something, it’s hard to come off of it, or try to deal with the withdrawal symptoms once you quit. Whether you’re addicted to alcohol, food, the Internet, or anything else, seeking help is a good way to prove to yourself that you’re willing to make a change.

There are many ways to treat addiction. Some turn to counseling, where a therapist will guide you through dealing with your problems through therapeutic techniques. Others may turn to rehabilitation programs and/or take prescribed medication to manage the symptoms of withdrawal. Another way to treat addiction is through hypnotherapy.

What is Hypnotherapy?

You probably have this stereotypical picture in your head when you think of hypnotherapy – a hypnotist waving something shiny in front of your eyes, saying that you’re getting sleepy. Of course, there’s much more to it than that. Hypnotherapy involves trying to change a person as they are, while they are in an unconscious state. The goal is to put the client into an uninterrupted trance, which can make them hyper-aware and able to express memories and secrets they otherwise wouldn’t share or recall in their conscious state. However, being under hypnosis can make a person more susceptible to suggestion.

Hypnosis commands can either be direct orders or suggestions. Some people respond well and listen to direct orders – for example, if you’re trying to quit drinking alcohol, a hypnotist telling you to stop drinking could make you do just that, after hearing the command. However, not everyone likes to be told what to do. In these cases, the hypnotist may make suggestions while their clients are under hypnosis. They may say, “You should consider drinking less,” and explain reasons as to why, instead of just giving the hypnosis command “Stop drinking.”

Hypnotherapy and Treating Addiction

Hypnotherapy can be used to treat addiction, addictive behaviors, and withdrawal symptoms as well. By opening yourself up to suggestion, a hypnotist can make suggestions or orders for you to help treat your addiction. It’s not magic or instantaneous – you won’t be cured suddenly, but it may help to increase your chances of quitting and not relapsing.

Hypnotherapy is also good for relieving pain and anxiety. These are just a few side effects of withdrawal. Sometimes, the experience of withdrawal is so overwhelming and uncomfortable that it makes people return to their addiction. By making the withdrawal process easier to cope with, you increase your chances of a full recovery.

Is it Effective?

While many studies on hypnotherapy’s efficacy in treating addiction have been inconclusive, there are others that have said that hypnotherapy may help to relieve pain and anxiety, which are symptoms of withdrawal. When recovering from addiction, you should definitely examine and consider all possible options – researching what works best for you, or perhaps employing multiple techniques can increase your chances of making a recovery. Hypnotherapy can work well when used in conjunction with other treatments as well.

Finding a Hypnotherapist Near You

If you’re considering hypnotherapy, take some time to research patients’ reviews and the hypnotherapists themselves. As with any profession, some are great at their job – they can help even the most stubborn of people change their behaviors and habits through hypnotherapy. Others may have more difficulty with their clients, may not be suggestive at all, are more direct in their commands, or may employ techniques that you feel may not be the right fit for you. Read the reviews and choose one that you may be comfortable with. If it might not be the right therapeutic relationship for you, don’t give up on working on conquering your addiction – ask your hypnotherapist if they might be able to refer you to another colleague, or another type of therapist.

Addiction is hard to conquer, but by trying out different types of therapy, you’re taking one more step toward recovery. Try hypnotherapy (or any other type of therapy) and see what it can do for you. Every effort made towards addiction recovery counts!

by Marie Miguel

Marie Miguel has been a writing and research expert for nearly a decade, covering a variety of health- related topics. Currently, she is contributing to the expansion and growth of a free online mental health resource with Better Help. With an interest and dedication to addressing stigmas associated with mental health, she continues to specifically target subjects related to anxiety and depression.

Studies Find 4 Major Personality Types

Personally I am not a big fan of personality types as I believe personality to be too open, changing and complex to be accurately classified in any simple context. Neither do I feel comfortable placing people into subsections, especially based on personality test questions that are, at best, ambiguous.

We are constantly told not to judge books by their covers and never to have prejudice based on superficial details - yet these tests are forcing us to make judgements of personality based upon answers to a handful of closed questions, often ticking a box that most applies to us rather than an accurate answer.

Similarly I do not like being placed into a certain bin. If I am told I am an introvert is that not self-fulfilling prophecy? While if I want to be seen as introverted or feel I am a certain personality type (as I imagine everyone does in some way) then surely the test cannot remain truly objective? Human thoughts/behaviours can only fairly be judged in context which tick box type questions cannot reasonably achieve.

Our personalities can change at time of day, throughout our lifespans, in different company, moods etc, so how you answer the questions at one moment could be completely different to sometime next week.

Perhaps in the future there will be highly intelligent computer software that could make more accurate and valuable assessments of personality, but until then we must make do with what we have.

Regardless of the above it is certainly fascinating to study personality types, while the potential uses of analysing and matching our personalities to different careers, partners, interests is an exciting prospect.

www.nature.com documents a new study that tested hundreds of people by use of questionnaire. The data came back lumping results into four key groups, and thus concludes that there are four main personality types; reserved, role models, average and self-centred.

https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/four-new-personality-types?rebelltitem=5#rebelltitem5 summarises these as the following:

'Average: Average people are high in neuroticism and extraversion, while low in openness. "I would expect that the typical person would be in this cluster," says Gerlach. Females are more likely than males to fall into the Average type.
Reserved: The Reserved type is emotionally stable, but not open or neurotic. They are not particularly extraverted but are somewhat agreeable and conscientious.
Role Models: Role Models score low in neuroticism and high in all the other traits. The likelihood that someone is a role model increases dramatically with age. "These are people who are dependable and open to new ideas," Amaral says. "These are good people to be in charge of things. In fact, life is easier if you have more dealings with role models." Women are more likely than men are likely to be role models.
Self-Centered: Self-Centered people score very high in extraversion and below average in openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. "These are people you don't want to hang out with," according to Revelle. There is a very dramatic decrease in the number of self-centered types as people age in both with women and men.'

More discussion on this topic

https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2018/09/17/scientists-identify-four-personality-types/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.6ba2f87821aa

What is Asperger Syndrome?

The name Asperger Syndrome (AS) comes from the Austrian Child Psychologist Hans Asperger, who wrote a 1944 study detailing the first definition of the syndrome. AS is now classified as part of the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and is thought to be a milder form of Autism.

From http://www.asperger-syndrome.me.uk/history.html

'In four boys, he (Asperger) identified a pattern of behaviour and abilities that he called "autistic psychopathy", meaning autism (self) and psychopathy (personality disease). The pattern included "a lack of empathy, little ability to form friendships, one-sided conversation, intense absorption in a special interest, and clumsy movements." Asperger called children with AS "little professors" because of their ability to talk about their favourite subject in great detail.'

  https://www.autism.org.uk/about/what-is/asperger.aspx# explain that AS is not a disease but rather a personality type that one is born with and has indefinitely. Those with AS 'see, hear and feel the world differently to other people' and can find everyday life 'overwhelming'. A complexity in describing and diagnosing AS is that it can affect people differently and is often mixed with other mental health problems meaning two people with AS can have apparently completely different problems.

'The characteristics of Asperger syndrome vary from one person to another, but in order for a diagnosis to be made, a person will usually be assessed as having had persistent difficulties with social communication and social interaction and restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviours, activities or interests since early childhood, to the extent that these “limit and impair everyday functioning”.'

As of September 2018 the causes of AS remain unclear despite major studies aiming to determine several hypotheses, such as the MMR vaccination being a potential cause. AS is thought to be genetic.

There is no perfect treatment for AS and rather a body of different coping strategies to aid the core symptoms of low level communication skills, obsessive/repetitive routines and physical clumsiness, with the accepted view being the earlier intervention the better in children.

https://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/all-disorders/asperger-syndrome-information-page

'An effective treatment program builds on the child’s interests, offers a predictable schedule, teaches tasks as a series of simple steps, actively engages the child’s attention in highly structured activities, and provides regular reinforcement of behaviour.  It may include social skills training, cognitive behavioural therapy, medication for co-existing conditions, and other measures.'

Children and adults can function normally with AS if treated effectively, though social/communicative situations may persist in being challenging scenarios. For this reason it is suggested that those with AS receive continuing support to maintain independent lifestyles.

Free Online Therapy

In my line of work I frequently come across people who claim they would love to take up therapy of some kind, but don't have the time or the money to pursue such action.

'What could be more important than improving psychological health?' I hear you say, but it's not that simple. Families, bills, addictions, debts, education costs - and probably a host of other things all come before taking a roll of the dice upon a therapy that may or may not work. Perhaps the mental block of 'I cannot be cured anyway' is the most telling factor; of course a self-defeating prophecy.

Theoretically then, in a society where therapy was completely free and flexible, accessible at any time; what would it change?

Would it attract droves of people into therapy? Would more severe mental health conditions be averted if they were caught and treated at an early stage? Would millions be saved in industry through less sick days being taken and hence loss of personnel?

The real life experiment is well underway in the UK, with those exact same goals in mind.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/24/health/england-mental-health-treatment-therapy.html

I think its a brilliant idea, although still far from the 'utopia' of perfect therapy. There are still teething problems such as waiting times, while technology can certainly be used for the better in future practice. All the same its a huge step in the right direction for mental health. Just making mental health issues an acceptable and approachable subject is a big step, as bottling things up inside is never a good recipe for long term health.

If you don't live in the UK or a country providing such service, what then? Free online therapies can be found, mainly in the form of forums/chat rooms focused on different mental health themes. Seeing a therapist in person is rare to find, as therapists will expect to be paid for their time other than in exceptional circumstances. The online community is different however and the links below are just the tip of the iceberg of what can be found.

http://www.healthfulchat.org/mental-health-chat-rooms.html
https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/tips-for-everyday-living/online-safety-and-support/finding-support/#.W3kvQuhKjIU
https://mashable.com/2014/05/01/get-help-anonymously/?europe=true#d1Ox.ouQ2mqP
https://freeonlinetherapy.org/free-online-therapy-guide/

Sharing feelings is therapeutic. Friends and family who listen can be wonderful therapists. Paying huge sums for a highly qualified therapist does not guarantee they are the best person for you. An issue with free therapies can be people working unlicensed/untrained - so always check the validity of any organisation/individual before proceeding.