Anxiety

[Maddog]

This new job has got me stressed beyond belief and I haven't taught a single day yet. I have trouble sleeping at night. It's an all round a bad situation. I've never had this kind of a problem before. How does a person deal with anxiety attacks?

[Mystic Eric]

i dunno if i've had anxiety. but i was depressed pretty much all year last year. i duno why. i couldn't think positively, and i had no motivation to do anything. and i always had really bad thoughts. i guess it just kinda went away... thank god. if it gets really bad maddog, consider seeing a shrink of sorts.

[Tryska]

hey maddog.....I was having panic attacks at night for a bit last fall while I was going through some heavy stuff.....umm, for me it was tied into depression which was organic in nature. Once i started resolving the oganic problem, the depression went away and the panic attacks went with it.

Are you specifically stressed about the new job? or is there other stuff going on too? what exactly has you panicked about it? is it something you can do something about? if not, would it be possible to relax, relate and release?

[vox]

Maddog I don't like hearing your stressed. I thought it may be bothering you because you didn't give your usuall reply on your journal the other day, or maybe it wasn't that funny. Either way I wish I was at least down there to do stuff with you to help take your mind off it. Maybe try some stress pills, I don't know but I hope you get over it. It may get better when you have to stop waiting and get to teach. Hope you can keep ***** together. I know you may have trouble doing this but have you thought about talking to any of your old instructors when you were there? I just wish you well and really wish there was something I could do to help.

[Taras]

If you're having trouble sleeping, you could try 50 or 75 mg of over the counter (at least in the US it's over the counter) Benadryl (generic=diphenhydramine HCl). It doesn't do anything for anxiety, but it might at least help you sleep.

I heard a Cornell prof say that he always felt nervous before talking in front of a group. He was probably around 60 years old, and had spoken at conferences all over the world, but he still had butterflies in his stomach before lecturing to grad students in his own department. He said that if you didn't feel some anxiety before giving a lecture, you probably weren't taking your responsibilities seriously enough. So, maybe this isn't such a bad thing, as long as it's not too severe. Hopefully, it will calm down a lot after your first class.

[Buzzdolfo]

Under times of stress your adrenal glands are working hardcore and soon enough they get depleted of the required nutrients for its proper function. Your adrenals enable us to cope with stress. Some vitamins and minerals known to be depleted when over stressed and which are used by the adrenals are B5 (pantothenic acid), B6 (pyridoxine), B3 (niacin), vitamin C (ascorbic acid), and magnesium and zinc. It maybe wise to increase significantly your vB complex and mineral supplements. This will defineatly help you. Also, High doese of niacin about 1 gram/ day is known to help with anxiety. If you do plan to take niacin i warn you of the "niacin flush". You'll get all red and hot for about 30 min....its not a bad thing, its a normal reaction that occurs within 15min-1hour of intake. Good luck..,

[Big Show]

Maddog from how you described it. It sounds to me like you're just nervous about when you teach your first class. Try not to worry about it.Perhaps the best way to decrease your anxiety attacks would be to indulge your inner child cause kids are always carefree. For me indulging my inner child is watching cartoons or collecting toys, try to find a way to indulge yours it might help

[HolyChase]

when things are getting rough here at the academy (which is often) i watch Office Space. It should chill you out. and make you laugh. Sounds pretty stupid, but it works for me. whatever helps you put things in perspective should help you out.


"If the problem can be solved, there is no use worrying about it.
If it can't be solved, worrying will do no good."
Kundun, The Dalai Lama

-teaching the class isn't really a problem, but i hope you see how his wisdom can apply to you.

[chris mason]

Maddog, what you need to do is try to put things into their proper perspective. Consider this, if teaching others is a cause of great stress, why is it? Do you know the material? Are you confident with regards to your abilities in this field? If your answer to those questions is yes, then the next question is whether you are afraid that your students will not like you, or appreciate you, or whether or not you will be able to get through to them. Well, if they are adults, they are in your class of their own volition, or at least because their employers require it. Either way, the only control you have over their thoughts of you is in how you act towards them. Treat them with respect, demand respect from them, and let them know that you care and they will respond accordingly. Flip the situation around, think of when you were the student. You had an automatic respect built in for your teachers, and then their actions reinforced that respect and built on it, or they didn't, but their actions were the determining factor. So, follow the golden rule by treating them as you would like to be treated, and simultaneously letting them know that he who has the gold rules! You can help these people in their careers, but not by worrying yourself to death. Another thing to consider is that if you are a hard working, intelligent and caring individual, these situations always work out fine and you realize in hindsight that all of the stress was unwarranted. I am sure this has happened to you in the past, and I can guaranty that it will happen this time as well. Finally, teaching will not place you in any sort of physical danger where your life may be on the line, and if you fail you can always move on to do something else which may be of great benefit to you. Some of the people considered to be "great" had many a failure before they finally succeeded. What is the worst possible outcome? You find that this job doesn't suit you. If that is the case, lesson learned, and you move on to possible greatness in the future. Heck, if you relax, you may actually find out that helping others gives you great personal and spiritual satisfaction. Don't worry, be happy :D !

[Tryska]

great post Chris. very well said. and I agree completely...

[Frankster]

What works for me:

VISUALIZATION


Visualize the outcome you would like of the situation and its every detail (like for example visualize the first day in detail, imagine you being confident and everything going superb, try and really feel it inside) everyday, and it will be like it already happened and your stress will go away.

[Maddog]

Thanks for all the great replies guys and gals. It was nervousness about doing a good job. I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my career and I had worries about my performance. Well I have since calmed down and realized that this is something new that I'm doing and if I'm good at it, bonus; if I suck, oh well. Not everyone is made out to be a teacher.

I started to come around last night and managed to put this into perspective. I slept like a baby last night and now I'm actually looking forward to getting started.

[vox]

Glad to heat your back to being yourself. I still think your going to do well. I don't know how many times I have had to listen to you bable about nuclear denifiers and ashfalt grade. You know your sh#t and if people start to fall asleep do what Mr. McCormick use d to do... scream real loud, and then say "That little bit of advice will really help you with the question worth 50% on your final" :D

[Cackerot69]

I can't believe Chris wrote that post.

He musta copy/pasted it from somewhere.

:)

[breeze]

Originally posted by Cackerot69
I can't believe Chris wrote that post.

He musta copy/pasted it from somewhere.

:)

You know cack, you don't have to be a prick 24 four hours a day. Once in a while you should actually chill out.