Fear and Anxiety. Is there a physiological predisposition in some people

dd972

Had a phone interview for a job today, all prepared and relaxed beforehand. had all my notes and what to say ready and didn't perceive any problems.

Anyway the phone rang, the guy introduced himself and explained the format and what would be asked, I've had these before by the way.

He then proceeded with the questions, and **** me

What should have come out of my mouth as an understandable discourse was reduced to a hesitant load of umming and awwing, rapid nervous sounding bits of speech, being asked by him to re explain myself etc, etc.

And all the while it was happening I was thinking ''Why am I feeling this level of fear and anxiety, I'm not in any threatening or dangerous situation? ''If I was pinned up against a wall down a dark alley with a loaded pistol held to my head, then yes this would be understandable but for talking to someone friendly and non threatening on a phone this was ridiculous.

I'm of the inclination that there has to be a neurological or physiological inclination in some people to feel this level of fear and people who come across as confident and relaxed are not afflicted by this.

A bit of nervousness and anxiety in all people is normal, but what I think fecked up my job chances today is bordering on a disability.

judgefudge

Don't know if you're asking for advice here or what?

But yeah I get the same thing. I can perfectly prepared for a presentation and the minute I get up there my heart starts going. Despite the fact that I have prepared well and know my stuff. It's ridiculous.

I think it's a natural predisposition in my case, I always had a certain social anxiety when I was a child but I've overcome that now. I have also always gotten nervous for any public speaking I've had to do.

As for what you can do... I still haven't found a solution sorry. Breathing deeply and reminding myself that nothing bad is going to happen can help sometimes. Also telling myself I'm a confident person can help.

I saw an interesting TED talk there a while ago that said that just by positioning yourself in a confident power position (like putting your arms in the air or draping your arms over the backs of chairs beside you) as opposed to a defensive posture (crossing legs and arms) can have a physiological effect where chemicals are released in the brain that reduce stress and generally give you the illusion of confidence. So doing this before a meeting or talk can improve how confident you feel. I can't remember the name of it but it's worth looking up.

Ickle Magoo

Hey there OP,

PI is a forum for getting advice on a personal issue rather than general discussion.

If you want to discuss a particular anxiety/phobia and how you/people are affected - the Phobia forum is HERE and the Long Term Illness forum is HERE

All the best. :cool: