Lycopodium for Severe Public Speaking Anxiety?

oh, and by the way, i am 31/f.

Thank you so much for your quick reply. I definitely don't want to worsen the condition. Could it be possible that after taking it for 8 days and then stopping, my anxiety returning is the aggravation? Or is that too long of a lag time? Just to be clear, you are suggesting I wait and not continue taking the remedy? Are there other medicines I should try?

Thanks to both for your input and for helping me to understand the process of homeopathic remedies. I will do as advised and wait for a week to see what happens. I did forget to mention that for the first few days I was taking it last week, I had great difficulty in falling asleep (a problem I rarely have). I would lie awake thinking about things in my life that made me deeply sad (family issues, past mistakes, etc), but strangely, it didn't make me feel obsessively sad to revisit those thoughts, more like I was trying to make peace with them.

Hello again. So it's been a while since I stopped taking the remedy. I would say that while I don't feel the same sense of bliss that I felt at the peak of last week, I do feel more calm and productive overall. This could also be a sign of the spring coming, though, as I am very affected by seasonal changes and this has been a particularly difficult winter for me.

I did just find out yesterday, though, that I will be required to give a 15 minute presentation to a group of 20-25 high level executives in about three weeks. Now it's all I can think about. I am filled with dread and it's present with me every second. When I'm in public speaking situations, I feel extremely raw and exposed and I would rather do almost ANYTHING than go through it. Over the past few years, I have trudged through it, but a few months ago, I had a panic attack while presenting to a group of 50 peers and now that's all I think about with regards to this upcoming presentation.

People are generally surprised to hear that I suffer so much like this as I am not generally a shy person, though I can sometimes come across as quiet. But, I am very comfortable leading in small groups and such. It's only when I'm standing in front of a large group that things go haywire and I feel I lose control of my body's reaction.

Do you have any treatment recommendations, even for dealing with the feeling of impending doom? I just can't stand that this worry pervades my thoughts so many times throughout the day.

Hi Simone,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on public speaking. The strange thing is I am part of Toastmasters and I can present there with no problem. It's usually when I have an audience of 15 or more that my voice quivers and sometimes my mind goes blank (or at least it did that one time a few months ago). It also depends a lot on my perception of my audience. If I think they are more knowledgeable or important than I am, I find it difficult to take up their time with my words.

No, it is basically something the school is requiring me to do to our board of directors. There is no selling involved whatsoever. The only pressure is coming from myself... feeling like I will be exposed and embarrassed as soon as I start speaking.

Thank you Simone.

I have been reading through some of the past forum posts on public speaking and social anxiety and I feel I should add a few more things about myself that might be helpful.

In general, I do not have social anxiety. Though I have a tendency to suffer from depression and a deep desire to be alone during the winter, most people find me to be interesting and engaging on a one-on-one or small group situation. I have worked in sales positions and I am great at sales because I have an ability to connect with people and kind of mimic their mannerisms. I don't get severe anxiety around test-taking or most other difficult tasks and I've been told I come across as being very confident and poised. It's only when speaking to large groups of people, something is triggered in me and I am sometimes not able to speak fluidly or elegantly.. and one time my mind went completely blank. This is an issue I've struggled with for as long as I remember.

As I mentioned in my first post, when I took the Lyco 30C for awhile, I was feeling like I was able to see things in the correct perspective and, while I didn't have the opportunity to present during that time, I had the feeling that if I did, it would have gone much better than before.

It's now been over a week since I stopped taking it. I feel a general sense of peace and calmness, but when I was just told the other day that I would need to deliver a presentation in a few weeks, I became very nervous with anticipatory fear.

Yes please, that would be great.

General Guidelines:

1. Try to be as descriptive as possible. When describing pains or sensations use descriptions along the lines of ‘feels as if someone is squeezing it with their hand’ or ‘it is like an insect crawling around inside’ or ‘it is as if someone is standing over me threatening to kill me’. Long descriptions are always better than short ones. One word answers are difficult to use successfully.

2. Another important part of symptom description for homoeopathy are the ‘modalities’. These are situations, events, activities or conditions which modify the symptom in some way. We usually refer to this as what makes them ‘better’ or ‘worse’ (amelioration/aggravation). The situation may actually provoke the symptom into appearing, make it vanish altogether, or just increase or decrease it in some way. Modalities are vital information for prescribing.

Modalities are typically related to (but not exclusively) the following situations:

A. Temperature, weather
B. Time (day, night, specific times, frequency, periodicity, season)
C. Position, activity
D. Emotions, thoughts
E. Food and drink
F. Drugs, medication

3. How the symptom is perceived is important too – odour, appearance, sound, touch. What colour is it, what is its texture? For gestures, describe what it looks like the patient is doing, or what you feel you are doing while making the movement eg. ‘they look like they are swatting flies’ or ‘I feel like something is pushing my hand upwards’ or ‘it is like I stick a fork in an electrical outlet which throws my body backwards’. Description – it is key to accurate prescriptions.

4. When did the symptom or set of symptoms start? The apparent cause can be useful in determining the remedy, although it is not of the same importance as the previous factors. It may have been a specific event, a disease, an accident or even an emotional experience.

5. Use your own words. Do not copy phrases or descriptions found in our various remedy pictures. Try not to use other people’s ideas or thoughts or words. If you are reporting on behalf of someone else, report their exact words, however you can also report your own observations of them (not opinions).

6. Does the symptom occur alongside another specific symptom? Do particular symptoms only occur together? Does a particular symptom occur with a particular thought or emotion? For example, a headache that always comes with visual disturbances, or stomach pain that appears alongside anger, or anxiety that makes you feel like running down the street screaming.

7. Each complaint should be described fully before going on to describe another complaint. Try not to mix different symptoms or complaints together. Each modifying feature must be clearly attached to a particular symptom/set of symptoms. Any mistake you make here is a mistake the homoeopath will also then make.



BEFORE MOVING ON TO THE NEXT SET OF QUESTIONS, DO THIS NOW FOR EACH PHYSICAL PROBLEM YOU HAVE. LOOK AT ANY POSSIBLE SYMPTOM YOU HAVE, NOT JUST THE ONE YOU ARE ASKING FOR HELP IN RESOLVING.
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Re: Lycopodium for Severe Public Speaking Anxiety? From Evocationer on 2015-03-30
MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL DESCRIPTION



(Please spend the most time on this section and give DETAILED answers - the homoeopathic remedy is very often decided on the basis of the mental and emotional state of the patient!)


1. What are the issues in your life that bother you the most. Not physical issues but mental or emotional ones. List each one separately and describe why each one bothers you so much and how you cope with them.

1. The most pressing issue on my mind now is a deep anxiety felt around public speaking. When I am speaking to a group, I feel very raw and exposed and at one point, unable to perform. I haven't been able to forget it and now I feel a deep sense of dread when I think about having to give presentations in the future.

2. When I'm with a partner, at first things are usually great, but eventually, I start to feel very jealous of them. I try hard to fight the feelings and try to rationalize with myself, but in almost every relationship I've had, that has been somewhat of an issue. That is something that really bothers me as I would like to be in a loving, trusting partnership, but am afraid those feelings will always cloud my love.

3. I have a difficult relationship with some members in my immediate family. I believe myself and a sibling to have been sexually abused as young children and I think the impact of that (though unresolved) has an impact on our current family dynamics.

4. For the most part, I come across as poised, gentle, and positive, but if I am hungry, tired, or under a lot of stress, I can easily lose my temper and a very nasty side of me comes out. Sometimes I think I may be bipolar. I take ayurvedic herbs (ashwaghanda and shatavari) on a daily basis and they are HUGELY helpful in helping to regulate this issue.

5. I am extremely sensitive to smells and noise. I am very aggravated by someone next to me chewing gum loudly or smacking their food or wearing a heavy perfume. I don't mean it bothers me a little... fighting back the urge to yell at that person can ruin my day.

2. What emotions are the most troublesome for you? What situations provoke these emotions. How do these emotions make you act? Do you feel any ill effects from expressing or not expressing these emotions.

- Anxiety: Usually brought about when I feel "less than" someone or a group of people; or if I feel I'm somehow being taken advantage of; or when I'm anticipating someone being upset with me
-Lethargy: I tend to struggle with depression and lethargy in the winter months; I am very active in the summer, but when the weather is cold and dark, it's hard for me to remain social
-Jealousy: As I mentioned in Q1, I have struggled with jealousy in relationships in the past; in general, I am less concerned with my partner's actual actions than I am with the THOUGHT of him preferring to be with someone else; I have been known to make assumptions and take drastic actions based on my assumptions

3. What incidents in your life have had a deep impact on you? Describe each incident in detail and how they made you feel? What did you do in those situations? What effect have they had on your life?

-As I mentioned previously, I believe I suffered sexual abuse as a child. I think this has led to a host of issues, including a deep sense of shame

-Also, my father left my mother when I was fairly young, I believe I have a deep fear of abandonment as a result

-There was a time when a gym teacher made fun of the way I did a push-up in front of the whole class (I think this was in third grade or so), the whole class laughed and I never forgot that

-There was a time of about a year in my life when I suffered from chronic back pain. It was present with me every moment of every day and clouded any positive moments in my life. I felt deeply alone and hopeless during this time. At one point the pain was so bad I couldn't sleep or walk for nearly a month. I did eventually have surgery to remove the herniated disc, but the entire experience was quite difficult. I felt like ending my live several times during that time period as I saw no relief in sight.

-One of the most positive and impactful times of my life was going to summer camp every year as a young person. I grew up in a small town and I went to a camp several hours away from home. I was not very popular in school, but at camp, we were all outside, in nature, forming deep and meaningful relationships

4. What are you afraid of? Especially important are phobias, but it might be objects, situations or events that just produce a high level of anxiety. How do you manage your fears? How do you react when confronted with these fears? What would be the worst situation for you to be put in that would provoke these fears? You may need to talk about each fear/anxiety separately.

-In general, I do not have many specific fears. Perhaps that's why this public speaking anxiety is so troubling to me, as it's something I've lived with for years and has only seemingly gotten worse. It is now something that creeps into many moments in my life. It can ruin a happy moment by creeping in and reminding me that I feel like a failure for not being able to speak effectively in a public situation. During the moment itself, my heart beats fast, my face turns red, and I stumble over my words.

5. What hobbies do you have? Why do you like each of these activities?

-I love to cook natural, healthy food. I have developed a great relationship with food and cook almost everything from scratch. I enjoy it because I find it to be relaxing and also because it is my way of nourishing my body with health.

-I have a deep love and appreciation for nature and wilderness. My soul feels most free and happy while walking outside on a sunny day. I love to swim.

6. Do you have any persistent thoughts, ideas or beliefs that are difficult to stop or cope with? What are they?

-As mentioned above, the anxiety around public speaking has become fairly consistent

-I often struggle with a sense of self-worth, not feeling included or understood or accepted


7. Do you have any unusual gestures or movements of the body? Do you feel any unusual sensation or pain throughout your body? What exactly does it feel like is happening in your body?

-My body requires a fair amount of regular exercise to feel good. If I go for several weeks without exercise or stretching, there is a good chance that my back with spasm and be "out" for 3-4 days

-When I am feeling stressed on a long-term basis, my eye will begin to twitch

8. When you experience your fears, persistent thoughts, or difficult emotions, what kind of sensation or reactions do you get in your body?

-I feel a tightness, like all my muscles and all the cells in my body get tense when I have difficult thoughts or emotions

9. When did you feel at your best in your life? What was that like for you? If you imagine the complete opposite of this feeling or moment, what would that be like?

-I felt at my best when I had a great group of friends and we all lived together, though I had a lot of privacy and space as well. The feeling of community was wonderful for me, but also I needed to have a lot of alone time; it was a time when I was very active physically and I was very hopeful about life and felt a connection with the creative force that inspired me to a deep trust and contentment

-The opposite would be feeling trapped or completely isolated, feeling hopeless, depressed, and miserable

10. Do you feel like you are stuck in a pattern of behavior, especially when trying to deal with your problems? What is this pattern? THIS IS AN IMPORTANT QUESTION PLEASE CONSIDER CAREFULLY AND GIVE DETAILS.

-Regarding the speaking anxiety, yes I do feel stuck. I feel like I have tried many methods to gain control of my feelings in these situations, but regardless of what I tell myself prior, my body's reaction always dominates things

-In many other areas of my life, I feel I have made significant progress and continue to find new ways to live harmoniously with myself and the world

11. What difficulties or problems do you have in relationships? Talk about your family, your romantic relationships, your spouse or partner, your friends, and your work colleagues. You may need to talk about all of these separately.

-There is a lot of anger in my family, so when we get together, tempers usually flair, though there are some members of my family who I have great relationships with (my mother and my sister); with the rest, things are usually very strained

-Jealousy in romantic relationships; otherwise, I will often be aloof with partners

-Work colleagues: Usually I have a good reputation for being thorough and well-liked at work, however, if I'm working on a project with people and, for example, we are working so hard we don't get a break to eat, I will eventually get extremely run down and will eventually start being very short and snappy with people and it's been difficult to repair professional relationships once that happens

-I am quite particular about who I consider to be friends. I am really interested in being with people who have similar interests as me (nature, food, health, etc), but I am almost not at all interested in spending time with people who I don't feel inspired by, in that case, I would usually rather be alone than spend time with people I perceive to be "trying to hard" or fake or just uninteresting

12. List 5 positive things about yourself. Are there any situations where this positive attribute becomes negative (is a problem)?

-I am very charming when I want to be (in one-on-one or small groups), so people are often quite fascinated by me when they first meet me, though either I or they usually eventually lose interest

-I am very open minded and accepting of people for the most part (unless it's myself, my partner, or someone close, in which case, I struggle to be more accepting)

-I have an eye for style and beauty; as I am very sensitive to things, I really like my personal style and the things around me to reflect beauty

-I am very loyal, honest, and passionate

-I am very intuitive, this lets me "feel" situations where others can't and often times I can see through people's masks or games and plan strategically (though sometimes I feel that I am actively looking for these negative traits and it can be a problem)

13. List 5 negative things about yourself. Are there any situations where this negative attribute becomes positive (is useful)?

-I find it very difficult to wake up in the mornings and to go to bed "on time"; this has been a struggle for most of my life

-I tend to fixate on things, if a negative situation is happening in my life, I will become kind of obsessed with it until it is resolved (this can be a positive in the sense that I don't let things get swept under the rug and fester)

-If I am stressed or generally not feeling well, it is difficult for me to be nice and patient with people

-I have a tendency to fall into a depression and sense of pointlessness a few times a year, usually in winter, but when spring and summer arrive, I am usually very happy and outgoing

-Since I was a teenager, I have struggled with conforming to and respecting authority. I tend to feel less "locked in" to situations than most people do and will speak up or quit something that I don't feel is a valuable use of time, regardless of consequences (this is also a huge positive in my life)

14. Do you have any reoccurring dreams? Describe them in detail, including any feelings that come while dreaming. Dreams are very important in unlocking the deepest truth of a patient’s case, but it is not enough to simply describe them in a sentence. Give as much information as you feel comfortable doing.

-For the last 7 years, I have been woken up with dreams of suffocating. I will wake up as I'm climbing out a window or out of the door on the balcony; the dreams usually happen when I'm going through times of change or stress and it's usually that there is toxic air in the room, so I start holding my breath and then I'll sleep walk to the door or window and violently pull it open and I usually wake up then, panting, heart pounding, out of breath; I haven't had that dream in about six months now, they used to happen 3-4 times a month for a while.

15. Did you have any reoccurring dreams as a child, or earlier in your life? Describe those in detail including any feelings that came with them.

No, not that I recall

16. What were you like as a child, your character, your personality, your fears, your dreams, your problems?

-I was generally a quiet, content child; it was always easy for me to make new friends, though there were always friends of friends who didn't like me for some reason, maybe jealousy; I loved animals and playing outside. I don't think I was shy, though adults would often tell me I was, I think I was more just quiet; I have always been one to observe first and then act; I was deeply affected by being scolded in any way and I minded my parents very well

17. What kind of environment did you grow up in? What problems where there at home, with your family, with your parents, with your siblings, with school?

-As I remember, our house was relatively peaceful and happy until my parents started fighting, eventually my father moved out and my parents continued to fight (though never violently) for years; my father had an explosive temper and once punched a hole in the wall; he would become very angry all of the sudden, almost without warning, scream at us kids aggressively, and then he would go back to normal; my mother was very stressed by trying raise the children alone and work and there was a time when she would scream at us every night when she came home from work about the house not being clean; though I am on very good terms with both of my parents now, I remember a time when I was quite afraid of both of them

-In school, I was generally a good student; school always came very easily to me and eventually I realized I could put forth minimum effort to achieve "good enough" results; I was never popular, but always had friends, though not in a clique or group

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Re: Lycopodium for Severe Public Speaking Anxiety? From Evocationer on 2015-03-30
GENERAL SYMPTOMS

(Symptoms that don’t fit anywhere else, but are things that tend to affect all of you as a person, but are not emotions or thoughts)

1. Sleep - what position do you tend to sleep in? I sleep on my side, either one
- what position can you not sleep in? back or stomach
- do you do anything unusual in your sleep? I will twitch sometimes when falling asleep, the sleepwalking issue I described above
- any problems with going to sleep, staying asleep, or waking up? I tend to fall asleep very quickly once I'm in bed, though I am very sensitive to any sounds during the first hour I'm asleep and if I'm awoken during that time, I usually find it difficult to get back to sleep and feel upset

2. Appetite - What foods do you crave/desire strongly? salty, warm, sometimes sweets
- What foods do you hate eating (have an aversion to)? mayonnaise, ketchup, cantaloupe
- What foods have a negative effect on you or cause symptoms? anything heavy makes me very sleepy
- What foods have a positive effect on you or seem to improve your health or symptoms in some way? fresh organic salads, smoothies, lentils and beans generally keep me energized

- What is the effect of hunger or fasting on you? I am hugely affected by my thyroid or blood sugar, once I go several hours without eating, I will start to feel a change in my body and attitude, even my mouth tastes different and I become very tense and quick to anger
- What did you crave in the past? salt and sweets

3. Thirst - What drinks do you crave/desire strongly? mostly water, espresso in the morning
- What drinks do you hate to take (are averse to)? drinks with synthetic ingredients or sugar
- When are you most thirsty? I am generally very thirsty all day, but if I sweat or exercise, it takes a lot of water to recover
- When are you least thirsty?

4. Stool - Do you have any problems with your bowels or passing stool? no, not usually
- What is the shape, color, odor of the stool? brown, log shape

5. Urine - Do you have any trouble passing or retaining urine? no, though lately I have had issues with making it all the way to the toilet before the urine begins, like a bit will start when I'm just outside the bathroom door...
- What is the color, odor of the urine? usually clear, no odor
- Do you have any sediment or debris in the urine? no

6. Sweat - How do you feel about the amount of perspiration you have? fine, I don't sweat much except when working out
- Where do you have the most sweat? armpits, face
- What is the odor? light odor, not foul
- What color does it stain clothing? no
- Does anything in particular cause you to sweat abnormally? when I feel extra nervous

7. Sexuality - Any problems with your sexual desire? no
- Any problems with your sexual ability or function? no
- Any history of sexually transmitted diseases? no

8. Menses (Women)
- How many days is your cycle? 28
- How many days does the flow go for? 3-4
- What is the appearance of the flow? normally dark red with some clots on first day or two, then tapers off for the last two days
- What is the odor of the flow? usually light, sometimes there is an odor of iron
- What kind of stain does the flow leave?
- Any discharge before, during or after? normal clear discharge
- Any pain before, during or after the flow? cramps on first day
- What symptoms come before the flow? high emotional charge, deep sadness, feeling of doom, sometimes acne, sometimes constipation
- What symptoms come after the flow? none in particular

9. Environment – How does the weather affect you? I am very affected by the weather; I have an aversion to cold; when it's cold or cloudy, I find it difficult to keep myself in a positive or social mood
- How does the temperature affect you? I dislike the cold very much, but I enjoy hot weather; I feel alive and happy in the heat
- How does the season affect you? I feel my energy changing as the seasons change; I generally enjoy spring, summer, and fall very much
- What physical activities affect you? I have found yoga and running to be generally good for my mental and physical health, I also really enjoy swimming in natural bodies of water
- Is there anything else in the environment you are sensitive to? loud neighbors, TV and radio commercials, the smell of synthetic fabric softener

10. Anything else you feel is important that hasn’t been covered by previous questions?

-Only that my issues with my back had a deep and lasting impact on me. There is a part of me that always fears my back will "go out" at any moment and stop me from doing what I want to do; I usually feel sad and purposeless when I first awake in the morning, especially if I have a lot of time on my hands with no where to be; I am not good at structuring my time when I have excessive amounts of free time, even if I want to be productive, I will usually procrastinate and watch hours of TV and then feel upset about it by the end of the day

Thank you for your help!

Thank you, Evocationer. I will obtain the remedy and will report back.

Hello Evocationer,

I wanted to post an update.. I took the first dose of Lachesis yesterday and I believe I was feeling an aggravation today. Would it happen that quickly? I've been extremely irritable all day and even picked a fight with one of my closest friends. Even though I was irritable, I was in a positive mood though, but this evening around 5-7, I began feeling quite despondent. Though now that the sun has set, I feel fine again. I just took the second dose half an hour ago.