A very talented Engineer from Arizona sought help with a challenging problem that was interfering with her professional life almost daily in the last few months.  She had worked for the same firm for seven years and been quite successful in small work projects and because of the talent and skills that she possessed she had been promoted to manage not only an office of this large company but also a division of the company at large. This is when her problems really began to kick in, she had to travel a great deal, mostly regionally, and address groups of other professionals, contractors and those that sought services through her organization is medium to large gatherings (12-50 attendees).  This is what prompted her to enter treatment with Psychological Health and Wellness, located on the Mesa/Gilbert Arizona border.

In such new circumstances it would be reasonable that most people would occasionally feel nervous, however she was becoming devastatingly anxious and self-conscious.  She began to avoid situations as much as possible and when she could not avoid them she reported feeling the following symptoms:

• Blushing and becoming very red in the face, and neck
• Profuse sweating, so that her clothing would be visibly damp like she had been rained on.
• Trembling or shaking
• Nauseated or actually vomit
• Stomach upset and tremendous stomach acid
• Difficulty talking without stuttering, chocking and breathing irregularly
• Shaky voice, and trouble with pitch and pacing
• Muscle tension that was so severe her body would physically ache as if having done vigorous exercise, and sometimes the grip of her own fists would cause her nails to cut into her palms
• Cold, clammy hands
• Difficulty making eye contact with those that she was talking with, supervising or promoting services to.

She was experiencing what is commonly called social anxiety or social phobia, which on the surface is an intense and persistent fear of being scrutinized, judged and found wanting by others or of doing something embarrassing that could bring ones competency into question by others.  Being incredibly bright and quite analytical it was a difficult situation for this young woman to struggle with because she realized that her anxiety or fears were unreasonable as well as harmful to her, yet the more she tackled them in her mind the stronger and more rooted they seemed to become.

This talented young professional woman’s repeated experiences went something like this:

• Anxiety before the encounter, where she would fret and imagine all of the possible scenarios that could happen that might be disastrous, go badly wrong or reflect on her or her company in a bad way. With each new scenario she imagined there were multiple and painful possibilities attached that created more and more emotional distress.  With three to four days before most large meetings she could create enough emotional and physical distress to be physically ill, feel overwhelmed and extremely distressed.
• Intense discomfort during while conducting the presentations, where she found it difficult to focus on topic or to not get lost when delivering information and organizing the delivery and answering questions from those in attendance.
• Worry afterward about how she was being judged and imagine criticism regarding her performance and the hateful and unflattering things that those in attendance “must be saying” about her and her skills or abilities.

Check back soon for part two:  Causes of Social Anxieties and Phobias.