How Panic Away Can Help Teens Stop the Fear of Speaking in Front of the Class

After hanging out with my boyfriend’s daughters and a few of their friends, it was decided that one of their top fears that caused them the most anxiety was getting up to speak in the front of their class: some even resorted to taking a “zero” instead of doing the assignment. I asked each one of them why they had such intense fear that would literally stop them from doing it at all; here are some of their answers:

1. What if I don’t look pretty enough up there.
2. What if my clothes aren’t nice enough.
3. Forget it, I have a pimple.
4. Way too many eyes are on me at once.
5. There’s a boy I like in my class and I’ll be too embarrassed.
6. I’m too shy.
7. What if I don’t sound smart enough?
8. I will be so nervous my voice will tremble and I’ll sound like an idiot.
9. What if they don’t understand what I’m saying?
10. What if someone laughs at me?

For these teen girls these are very real, debilitating circumstances. For those who followed through they couldn’t remember a word they said.  They concluded that their heart was beating so loud that they couldn’t hear themselves think, their body was shaking uncontrollably, they felt slightly dizzy and off balance and extremely nauseous. The girls admitted feeling extremely anxious to the point of feeling paralyzed by their fear and surprisingly they didn’t even know that it could be an anxiety or panic attack.

This may not seem like a big surprise, a lot of people suffer from stage fright, but when it constantly affects you each and every time and gets worse instead of easier, leaving you feeling hopeless, discouraged and exhausted it’s time to take a look at anxiety and/or panic attacks and find a way to fight back! These panic and anxiety attacks are keeping teen girls from believing in themselves and being the confident young ladies they were created to be.

I asked the girls, “If I gave you information on how to stop this fear from being so destructive and leave you feeling more relaxed and sure of yourself, would you take it?” They exclaimed, “Yes!”

They are just starting to read Barry Joe McDonagh’s Panic Away Program and said that so far it is very straight forward and easy to understand. I know that this is going to help the girls tremendously!