Just about given up on doing it myself - what about meds?

[Zingledot]

I no longer have a serious anxiety problem. There are a lot of things that time and experience have simply put into perspective for me and I am a much more functional person.. and I generally believe that most problems can be conquered internally, because most anxiety is related to mindset and perspective.

I guess what I'm frustrated with is some form of performance anxiety that I just can't kick. Whenever I have even a tiny amount of worry about how well I'm doing at something, my brain just get hazy and nothing flows naturally. Then I find I start to get on edge... I walk on my toes, my voice is tighter, etc.

I made a post about this a while ago and some others agreed about the same sort of problem. And for some reason acknowledging it helped a lot (again, mindset and perspective) but it comes back just as strong whenever I try to learn something new. What I've determined is that I do well at things that I'm so comfortable doing that I don't give the action a second thought to ask myself "Am I doing it well enough?" and if I do, I immediately haze over.

Has anyone had experience with medication that will help this 'edginess'? Besides alcohol. Alcohol does it fairly well, but when its to the point that it works I'm not very coordinated or articulate :)

[aSoundMind]

Have you ever tried any natural remedies to help you?

L-Theanine (also known as suntheanine) is a great amino acid that is derived from green tea. It can help take the edge off.

I have taken it myself and have found it to be a great benefit.

[lunalady]

Hey Zingledot,

First of all congratulations-- what great progress you've made! ((virtual hug!!))

Now let's look at your current "frustrations": Anxiety can often be sort of a life long gig -- not that it has to be disabling or severe-- you've already beat it for the most part.

It's just that you are still dealing with that low level performance anxiety. And dealing with it is a pain in the butt.

I think you are being hard on yourself. Yes, meds can help with edginess. Just be sure to use only as needed and of course go to your doctor.

Take care,
Jill