General / Mental Health Support Thread

[normskih]

or on the toilet

Or naked and on the toilet;)

 

[kaz7]

Practise it every day , in front of a mirror , put your shoulders back and make sure to keep them there , the best advice i ever got was fake it till you make it , good luck

 

[Lauz9888]

I have a public speaking event in Feb next year and have high, high anxiety about it. I can't stand getting up in front of people and speaking (despite being confident in everyday life/with my job that requires it) to a large audience.

I am assuming it's a common thing to those on here too? If so, when you needed to do a speech of some sort, how did you 'get over it' and be confident?

Cheers.

I've had to give various presentations and the only thing that works is to practice like crazy.

You have to be completely confident in what you're going to say - you don't want a word-for-word script necessarily, but you do need a structure for what you're saying, a list of points you want to hit, and you want to practice saying them in whatever wording comes to mind (this is better than scripting it because with a script if you forget the words you freeze, but with experience of wording the ideas differently you just let it flow).

And when I say practice, I don't mean read through your notes in your head. I mean say the actual words out loud.

It's also mortifying in the moment but so helpful later on, if once you're comfortable with what you want to say, you sit or stand in front of a mirror, look yourself in the eye and present the whole thing to yourself. If you're anything like me you'll feel extremely self-conscious doing that, you might stumble over your words, trail off, look away, give up...that's fine. Just keep doing it until you can do the whole thing to your own face.

Once you can do that, you'll smash the speech.

 

[skillman]

I've had to give various presentations and the only thing that works is to practice like crazy.

You have to be completely confident in what you're going to say - you don't want a word-for-word script necessarily, but you do need a structure for what you're saying, a list of points you want to hit, and you want to practice saying them in whatever wording comes to mind (this is better than scripting it because with a script if you forget the words you freeze, but with experience of wording the ideas differently you just let it flow).

And when I say practice, I don't mean read through your notes in your head. I mean say the actual words out loud.

It's also mortifying in the moment but so helpful later on, if once you're comfortable with what you want to say, you sit or stand in front of a mirror, look yourself in the eye and present the whole thing to yourself. If you're anything like me you'll feel extremely self-conscious doing that, you might stumble over your words, trail off, look away, give up...that's fine. Just keep doing it until you can do the whole thing to your own face.

Once you can do that, you'll smash the speech.

Appreciate that mate, thank you!

 

[PinkFinal]

I now have to accept that I'm effectively disabled.
Because that's what severe depression and inability to cope with reality is.
I can't go on comparing myself with regular people because I'm completely out of the game.
Things are tough (though not as tough as last week) I might even end up asking for electro convulsive therapy.

 

[SebastianBlue]

Brilliant, thanks a lot mate. Really appreciate those.

It's a generic work presentation in front of a load of corporate people. You know the type.

If that is the case, just remind yourself that half of them aren’t even paying attention to what you are saying. Another quarter will not understand it no matter how well you present. And the last quarter probably already know and agree with what you are presenting!

You’ll do great, mate!

 

[Marklr]

I now have to accept that I'm effectively disabled.
Because that's what severe depression and inability to cope with reality is.
I can't go on comparing myself with regular people because I'm completely out of the game.
Things are tough (though not as tough as last week) I might even end up asking for electro convulsive therapy.

Are you getting any help?

 

[Marklr]

My stomach feels like I've swallowed some battery acid or something. It hasn't settled for the last 5 days or so. Bubbling about and making me feel sick.

 

[RobMCFC]

I'm not particularly fussed about the content. It's just when I stand in front of an audience I can feel myself getting worked up.

Can feel a pulse in my throat, heart rate goes through the roof, voice shakes, blushing etc.

I just want to wish you the best of luck with this, and to say that I know how you feel.

In real life, I'm very confident, but when I was 15, I had to stand up in front of the class an read something out in English class. I thought I was having a heart attack, I had very bad shakes and just like you say, the shaking voice and blushing sound all too familiar.

I don't know if this will help, or even been seen as good advice by some, but I thought I'd mention it here. After that incident (and a few more like it) I went to the doctors and ended up on beta blockers for a few years. They don't take away the fear or the mental anguish at being in a pressurised situation, but they 100% helped with the symptoms and they keep you calm and centred (well, calmer than you would be) in the moment and the shaking/voice etc. is definitely calmer.

Haven't taken them, for years, and it might not be a good long-term thing, but as a short-term fix, it could definitely work. Maybe speak to your doctor?

 

[PinkFinal]

Are you getting any help?

Trying. Undecided what to do. Change medication or pursue other options like ECT.