Has this ever happened to you? Can’t breath in the spotlight?

September 20th, 2009 by admin

Here’s a terrifying experience. Have you ever been asked to give a monologue of some sort, like a status report on a project at work, or a description of an incident that has occurred, only to find that when all eyes are turned on you it suddenly feels like you don’t have enough breath to finish your sentence?

This is a panic reaction. Sometimes your heart beat speeds up suddenly when you feel that you are in the spotlight. Your rapid heartbeat may cause you to breathe more quickly to supply the oxygen demands of your heart muscle contracting rapidly. It’s like part of your body is doing sprints, even though you are just sitting in an office chair around a table at your meeting. It’s frustrating that you can’t finish your sentence because everyone will notice you gulping for air before you get to the end of your sentence. They will think you are having a panic attack or something. They would be right. You are having a panic attack. It’s called a situationally-induced specific social phobia, and it often creates mini-panic attacks under certain social circumstances.

The irony in this situation is that you are only having a panic attack because you are so afraid of the possibility of looking like you’re having a panic attack. If it wasn’t for that one fear, the symptoms would be bothersome but not so bothersome that they stopped you from being able to breathe naturally.

Fortunately, there is a solution. Unfortunately, the solution is not an easy one. Here’s the slimmed-down explanation of the solution that is detailed in the Social Anxiety Secrets System. First you need to learn a very specific form of breathing control (not the “take a deep breath” method that so many people mistakenly think is helpful); and second, you need to design a system for mass-practice with using the new breathing system while generating panic-thoughts and panic sensations. I teach you how to do both in the Social Anxiety Secrets System, but one tip for this specific problem is that you can generate first-level mass practice opportunities by jogging some stairs or doing a bunch of push ups just before closing your eyes and imagining that you are in the meeting and in the spotlight. Your mind begins to attribute the rappid breathing from your pushups or jogging as the same anxiety as you experience in the real meeting. This gives you the opportunity to practice the specialized breathing technique that can allow you to finish your sentences.

As a warning, the specialized breathing method is not enough by itself because you will instantly revert to panic-mode breathing without the massed practice to retrain your mind. So work on this diligently after picking up your copy of the course on social anxiety symptoms.

Live with Courage and Discipline!

Dr. Snyder