Panic Attacks when asked to read.

Hello everyone, first time poster, and first time talking about my problem for a while. My name is Angelo and I am a Senior at Newport Harbor High School. My problem is that when a teacher asks me to read out loud, regardless if it's a word, a sentence, a paragraph, I freak out!

I mean my heart races, my palms sweat, I shake, I feel Dizzy and light-headed, and my voice trembles. This has been going on for 3 years. I've been semi able to deal with my problem by letting my teachers know. But sometimes we will get a substitute and they probably don't know about my problem, theres always a possibility of getting asked to read.

Its been bad where I've ditched or "Cut" class to avoid the anxiety. I am also sick and tired of pretending to be sick or have a headache in class to give my friends an excuse for not wanting to read or participate in a class discussion.

I do not know how I got this, one day during Sophomore year I was asked to read and never felt this anxiety before, I started reading and, WOW, My Heart Rate jumped, palms sweat, etc. I don't know why or how. I just hope this problem goes away as quickly as it came.

Sorry for the long winding post, but if anyone has a similar problem, or can even relate a little bit to what I'm going through please just a little reply would help me out. I want to talk to someone about this. My parents get on my case when I bring it up because they think, "Its just a phase" or "Its all in your mind" and refuse to talk about it.

Thanks Everyone, Angelo Cosma

Hi Angelo

Welcome to the forum.

It sounds like what you are experiencing is a variation of social phobia and you are certainly not alone in this. Many people panic when they feel like they are the focus of everyone's attention. I, myself, sometimes get a really dry throat when I start to read, even if it's only in front of my family members.

The sweaty palms and increased heart-rate are natural reactions to fear and - although it's hard - try not to let these worry you, they are harmless. Just because the fear is only in your head and not born out of any 'real' danger, it doesn't affect how our autonomic nervous systems react to it.

With a lot of people, they get an idea into their head that when they read they will make a fool of themselves. This soon spirals into panic and affects your concentration so it turns into a catch-22.

I don't really know what the answer is but every time you avoid such a situation you are reinforcing your belief that you can't do it and making the problem worse.

Chris

Can anyone else relate to this, or know what to do?