1 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:07,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:10,479 Speaker 1: Lauren bog Obam. Here, your minutes away from presenting a speech, 3 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: your heart quickens, your hands turned clammy, and your brain 4 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:17,160 Speaker 1: dissolves into oatmeal. Those killer opening lines that you had planned, 5 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:20,120 Speaker 1: they've all but vanished, with no evidence that they ever existed, 6 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:22,639 Speaker 1: just like your all day deodorant in any sense of 7 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:25,720 Speaker 1: cool that you might have temporarily summoned. And all those 8 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:28,400 Speaker 1: people around the table in the conference room or classroom 9 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:31,319 Speaker 1: or auditorium are doing the absolute worst thing that they 10 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:36,080 Speaker 1: could do right now. They're staring and waiting and waiting 11 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 1: and waiting for you. I just want to run and hide. 12 00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:43,520 Speaker 1: Do you say to yourself, this is not going well. 13 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:48,600 Speaker 1: I'm going to bomb. According to both my own personal 14 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:52,159 Speaker 1: experience and one Scott Compton, a professor in psychiatry and 15 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:55,760 Speaker 1: behavioral sciences at the Duke University School of Medicine, that's 16 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 1: exactly what those with a fear of public speaking are thinking, 17 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:03,960 Speaker 1: and that anxiety, of course, is exactly the problem. The 18 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:07,360 Speaker 1: fear of public speaking is seriously real. It's a type 19 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:10,119 Speaker 1: of social anxiety disorder, which is a term first coined 20 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:13,240 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of 21 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:16,840 Speaker 1: Mental Disorders, the d s M from the National Institute 22 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:20,120 Speaker 1: of Mental Health, quote, people with social anxiety disorder have 23 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:24,120 Speaker 1: a general intense fear of or anxiety toward social or 24 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:28,240 Speaker 1: performance situations. They worry that actions or behaviors associated with 25 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:31,840 Speaker 1: their anxiety will be negatively evaluated by others, leading them 26 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 1: to feel embarrassed. This worry often causes people with social 27 00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:40,280 Speaker 1: anxiety to avoid social situations. Social anxiety disorder affects a 28 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:44,400 Speaker 1: whopping fifteen million American adults. Among the many subsets of 29 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:48,080 Speaker 1: the disorder, the fear of public speaking, sometimes called glossophobia, 30 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:51,080 Speaker 1: is king. As many as seven out of ten Americans 31 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:55,760 Speaker 1: may grapple with some degree of glossophobia. Jerry Seinfeld once equipped. 32 00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:59,000 Speaker 1: According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. 33 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 1: Number two is death. This means, to the average person, 34 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:04,640 Speaker 1: if you go to a funeral, you're better off in 35 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:09,079 Speaker 1: the casket than doing the eulogy, and this fear is 36 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: way more serious than sweaty palms and a tied tongue. 37 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:15,720 Speaker 1: Those with severe glossophobia worried so much about how they 38 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:18,080 Speaker 1: act or appear in public that they often avoid public 39 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:21,000 Speaker 1: settings altogether, and that can be harmful to their personal 40 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:25,200 Speaker 1: and professional well being. And the Anxiety and Depression Association 41 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:29,080 Speaker 1: of America warns that things can get even more serious. Quote. 42 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 1: People with social anxiety disorder are also at an increased 43 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:35,960 Speaker 1: risk for developing major depressive disorder and alcohol use disorders. 44 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:39,680 Speaker 1: The Andrew Cukees Foundation for Social Anxiety lays it out 45 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:42,440 Speaker 1: in stark terms. The name may sound harmless, but the 46 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:46,280 Speaker 1: disorder is complex, cruel, and anything but simple. Social anxiety 47 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:48,560 Speaker 1: is far more than shyness and a fear of public speaking. 48 00:02:48,919 --> 00:02:51,799 Speaker 1: It's an addiction to avoidance and a disease of resistance. 49 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:57,320 Speaker 1: So what's happening here? A Social anxiety disorders, including glossophobia, 50 00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:00,240 Speaker 1: are defined by extreme fear and worry. They are the 51 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:03,679 Speaker 1: most common mental disorders in the US. The signs that 52 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:08,320 Speaker 1: someone may be experiencing an anxiety disorder may include feeling nervous, irritable, 53 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:11,160 Speaker 1: or on edge, having a sense of impending danger, panic, 54 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:15,240 Speaker 1: or doom, having an increased heart rate, breathing rapidly, sweating 55 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:20,600 Speaker 1: and or trembling, feeling weaker, tired, difficulty concentrating, having trouble sleeping, 56 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:25,600 Speaker 1: and or experiencing guests, or intestinal problems. The anxiety is 57 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:27,880 Speaker 1: thought to be centered in the amygdala, a part of 58 00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:31,280 Speaker 1: the brain associated with emotions. The idea is that the amygdala, 59 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:34,680 Speaker 1: acting on bad memories or false ideas of what could happen, 60 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:37,640 Speaker 1: releases fight or flight hormones that put the body in 61 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:41,320 Speaker 1: a stressed state, thus the sweaty palms, racing heart, and 62 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:45,680 Speaker 1: the desire to get away. The disorders often start in 63 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:49,360 Speaker 1: young people. Psychiatry professor Compton says a shy child who 64 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:51,760 Speaker 1: won't participate in class even though he or she knows 65 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:54,680 Speaker 1: the answers, or who's afraid on play dates, or who 66 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:56,920 Speaker 1: won't join a sports team for fear of messing up, 67 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:01,160 Speaker 1: and grow as the child becomes an adult. Compton said 68 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:04,280 Speaker 1: most of the anxiety disorders start in early childhood and 69 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:07,920 Speaker 1: go untreated and unrecognized. People end up developing some pretty 70 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:12,480 Speaker 1: maladaptive sort of coping strategies. The go to strategy seems 71 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:15,080 Speaker 1: to be avoidance. Of Those who have been dealing with 72 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:17,800 Speaker 1: social anxiety for years, including the fear of public speaking, 73 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:21,840 Speaker 1: simply avoid stressful situations whenever they can, and that's about 74 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:23,479 Speaker 1: the worst thing they can do when it comes to 75 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:27,279 Speaker 1: conquering their fears. Compton said, the more you avoid, the 76 00:04:27,279 --> 00:04:30,040 Speaker 1: worse It becomes. My motto and therapy is you need 77 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:34,039 Speaker 1: to avoid avoidance. It's almost like, if something causes you anxiety, 78 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:36,200 Speaker 1: you need to do the exact opposite of what your 79 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:39,960 Speaker 1: history is telling you to do. Therapy can help a 80 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:43,200 Speaker 1: fear of public speaking and many other social anxiety disorders. 81 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:47,160 Speaker 1: Cognitive behavioral therapy is a type of psychotherapy talking things 82 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 1: through that is widely used to treat social anxiety by 83 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:54,320 Speaker 1: many mental health professionals. Compton said, in therapy, you start 84 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:57,080 Speaker 1: with kind of small things. I know you don't want 85 00:04:57,080 --> 00:04:59,120 Speaker 1: to go to a conference and be a keynote speaker, 86 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:00,919 Speaker 1: but would you be willing to give a talk in 87 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:03,919 Speaker 1: front of one other person? Start small, build up some 88 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:06,760 Speaker 1: confidence and success, and then turn the heat up in 89 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:11,760 Speaker 1: terms of making the situation gradually more anxiety Provoking anxiety 90 00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:15,039 Speaker 1: listening medication is a possibility too, but the first step 91 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:17,279 Speaker 1: may simply be practicing a speech in front of a 92 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 1: mirror or with a friend or so low in an 93 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:23,760 Speaker 1: empty room. Also, learn to slow down and breathe and 94 00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:26,039 Speaker 1: try to buy into the idea that your life will 95 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:30,279 Speaker 1: be better if you overcome your fear, Compton said, when 96 00:05:30,279 --> 00:05:32,479 Speaker 1: they can make the step of being willing to do 97 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:35,039 Speaker 1: that thing, even though their history is sort of saying, 98 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:37,600 Speaker 1: oh my gosh, this is going to be awful, those 99 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:39,719 Speaker 1: are the ones that kind of get over their fear 100 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:43,240 Speaker 1: of public speaking. For those facing the scary prospect of 101 00:05:43,279 --> 00:05:45,719 Speaker 1: making a public speech or being in any public setting 102 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 1: where you may have to talk, the National Social Anxiety 103 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:51,839 Speaker 1: Center has loads of tips. One is to decatastrophize the 104 00:05:51,839 --> 00:05:55,920 Speaker 1: brain freeze, that public speaking blackout that often happens with glossophobia. 105 00:05:56,760 --> 00:06:00,320 Speaker 1: From personal experience. Again, the audience wants you to do well, 106 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:03,320 Speaker 1: and we'll forget about any mistakes you make quickly and 107 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:06,640 Speaker 1: even if you completely bomb. One of the best lessons 108 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 1: about performing that I ever got was from one Chuck Bryant. 109 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:12,159 Speaker 1: As he was getting off stage after coping with a 110 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:15,280 Speaker 1: particularly tough crowd of middle schoolers. He shrugged and said, 111 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:23,240 Speaker 1: there's always next time. Today's episode was written by John 112 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:25,680 Speaker 1: Donovan and produced by Tyler Clang for iHeart Media and 113 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works. For more on this and lots of 114 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:30,520 Speaker 1: other calming topics, visit our home planet, how Stuff Works 115 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:42,280 Speaker 1: dot com.