How to survive gym workouts with social anxiety?

Aren't self-harm and suicidal thoughts enough of an alarm bell? Honestly, someone should have stepped in by now... you need to fix this, find some actual hope, and see a future for yourself. Without that, you might as well just call it quits.
Have you already tried it, or what? Is that why you aren't thinking about it anymore?

How on earth did you manage to enroll in that major given your diagnosis?
I suppose when you look at the career path, you realize you'll be constantly surrounded by people and tasked with helping them, so I just don't quite grasp why you made that choice.

Gerald Gomez43 said:How on earth did you manage to enroll in that major given your diagnosis?
I suppose when you look at the career path, you realize you'll be constantly surrounded by people and tasked with helping them, so I just don't quite grasp why you made that choice.

Honestly, I realized that people just suffer through it because their parents insist on it, 🙂 but seriously, you really don't need that kind of stress in your life; it's not like you're going to be pulling in massive money from grinding like that, so why not just stop? Just switch over to something more chill that still pays the bills, you know?

She was just asking for tips on how to survive her clinical rotations, yet everyone here decided to pivot into interrogating her life choices instead 🤦. I’m curious—how many of you actually stick to what fits your personality and skill set (and, honestly, what’s best for your clients or users)?

Silence, we can't exactly tell you exactly how much Normbal you need to take, or if you should be taking it at all. We don't know you. Your priority right now is finishing your degree. To finish your degree, you have to pass the year. To pass the year, you have to get through these rotations. You'll just have to figure out your own balance.

As for the social anxiety, maybe try tackling that alongside your studies; it’s pretty common knowledge that exposure therapy is what builds up your resilience.

People are everywhere. There’s no avoiding them, regardless of whatever career path you end up taking.

It’s honestly kind of ridiculous to me that people are lecturing you about your schooling based on an anxiety issue. Sure, that level of panic is maddening, but please remember that nobody’s opinion really matters—except maybe a professor’s, since you need them to give you a passing grade. And, hey, there's always the small chance a brick might fall on your head during the next earthquake. Those are basically your only two actual concerns during these sessions. Just get through it, and once you're out in the workforce, you won't give a damn about 90% of the nonsense you're dealing with right now.

Maria Price3 said:She was just asking for tips on how to survive her clinical rotations, yet everyone here decided to pivot into interrogating her life choices instead 🤦. I’m curious—how many of you actually stick to what fits your personality and skill set (and, honestly, what’s best for your clients or users)?

Silence, we can't exactly tell you exactly how much Normbal you need to take, or if you should be taking it at all. We don't know you. Your priority right now is finishing your degree. To finish your degree, you have to pass the year. To pass the year, you have to get through these rotations. You'll just have to figure out your own balance.

As for the social anxiety, maybe try tackling that alongside your studies; it’s pretty common knowledge that exposure therapy is what builds up your resilience.

People are everywhere. There’s no avoiding them, regardless of whatever career path you end up taking.

It’s honestly kind of ridiculous to me that people are lecturing you about your schooling based on an anxiety issue. Sure, that level of panic is maddening, but please remember that nobody’s opinion really matters—except maybe a professor’s, since you need them to give you a passing grade. And, hey, there's always the small chance a brick might fall on your head during the next earthquake. Those are basically your only two actual concerns during these sessions. Just get through it, and once you're out in the workforce, you won't give a damn about 90% of the nonsense you're dealing with right now.

Yeah, because not every job fits every person... I could never be a pilot or a stockbroker... would you? I definitely couldn't be someone staring at Excel spreadsheets all day, like some accountant crunching numbers for eight hours straight...

If teamwork and structured exercises focused on diagnosis and intervention trigger intense anxiety for her, then this isn't the career for her, because that's exactly what she'll be facing for eight hours a day for the next forty years...
So, wouldn't it be better to admit "this isn't for me" and go do something else, rather than dragging it out for three or more years, suffering through stomach aches and thinking about self-harm or needing to visit a psychiatrist just to get a break? Shouldn't that be the wake-up call...

If you just want to pass the rotations, my advice is to learn which diagnoses pop up every single year; these sciences aren't exactly known for being creative. Focus on the diagnosis, not the person or the team around you... if you're stepping into a leadership role—like a head nurse here in the US—just constantly ask the rest of the team for vital signs and follow their lead. Do you want to hunt down a doctor for meds or a catheter, or are you going to rely on nursing diagnoses where you assess external inputs, bed positioning, body language, pain management, or stopping bleeding? If it's acute, determine how bad it is: can you handle it alone, or do you call for immediate intervention from the ICU? Basically, focus on the diagnosis and show off your medical knowledge; you don't have to be social in every single situation. Learn who is responsible for what and coordinate the data accordingly...

Obviously, we can't all be experts at everything... But honestly, that hasn't really come up as a major issue for me—at least not within this specific thread.

Silence, what is it about having to go to practice that triggers that panic for you?

Maria Price3 said:Obviously, we can't all be experts at everything... But honestly, that hasn't really come up as a major issue for me—at least not within this specific thread.

Silence, what is it about having to go to practice that triggers that panic for you?

She struggles with social anxiety and suicidal ideation, and from what I could gather, she’s actually been hospitalized before. Personally, I think navigating all of that while trying to perform nursing duties—where you're constantly interacting with people, many of whom are critically ill or facing the end of their lives—would be an incredibly heavy burden to carry.🤷.

Gerald Gomez43 said:She struggles with social anxiety and suicidal ideation, and from what I could gather, she’s actually been hospitalized before. Personally, I think navigating all of that while trying to perform nursing duties—where you're constantly interacting with people, many of whom are critically ill or facing the end of their lives—would be an incredibly heavy burden to carry.🤷.

Why does any of this even matter?

Let her finish her degree first—that part is pretty straightforward, anyone can do it, and I’m sure Silence agrees. As for whether she’s actually competent at the job? Well, I guess that's for her future employer to decide.

Maria Price3 said:Why does any of this even matter?

Let her finish her degree first—that part is pretty straightforward, anyone can do it, and I’m sure Silence agrees. As for whether she’s actually competent at the job? Well, I guess that's for her future employer to decide.

It matters because social anxiety is a massive hurdle when nursing is basically 90% communication... the medical stuff is actually the easy part since you're working under a doctor's supervision, and you learn all the basic clinical administration during your freshman year, so what exactly do you think you're doing during the other two years?
It's about the teamwork, you know? You have to coordinate with patients, colleagues, doctors, and every other professional on staff, not to mention the hardest part (for me, at least)—dealing with family and kids. You have no idea how exhausting people can be; I mean, look at my mom... and you're out there trying to follow evidence-based practice, but they're insisting on some random treatment they read about on WebMD, so everyone ends up blaming everyone else. Then you try to refer them to the attending physician, but that doctor has 300 other patients and hasn't a clue about this specific case, so they just dump the patient right back on the nurse as the first line of defense... can you even imagine the delusions parents have when it comes to their children? They think they know more than you and the doctor combined, even when you're strictly following the literature and what's scientifically proven to work. Then they force these herbal supplements down their throats, and you can't explain to these stubborn people how those might interfere with their prescribed meds, so everything just turns into a mess... plus, you're the one standing there absorbing everyone's anger, grief, and joy, and you have to carry that weight every single day. You seriously need nerves of steel... and don't even get me started on dealing with coworkers. When you're the new person on a unit where the cliques have been established for twelve years, you'll get picked on, talked about behind your back, or given the silent treatment; if you can survive that, maybe you'll eventually join a clique or manage to transfer units...

In my opinion, if she's serious about finishing school, she should focus on paths where she can be more independent, like home health care... you get your assignments and spend most of your day on the road, right? 😁You drive to a location, do the job, head back, move to the next spot, and so on. Or, she could go the academic route and dive into research, staying in academia, though you'd still have to give lectures; you can't just do research, you have to participate in other people's studies and provide peer reviews... I don't know.

Having spent some time in these types of roles, I’ve realized it isn't exactly a job for everyone—certainly not for someone who isn't mentally resilient enough to handle the pressure🤷
If her struggles aren't too severe, then perhaps it's fine; she likely knows her own limits better than anyone else. Though, it might be wise for her to try some training exercises first to see how she holds up...

Maria Price3 said:Why does any of this even matter?

Let her finish her degree first—that part is pretty straightforward, anyone can do it, and I’m sure Silence agrees. As for whether she’s actually competent at the job? Well, I guess that's for her future employer to decide.

And what's she supposed to do once she's there if her boss tells her, "Hey, you're doing great" (mostly just because they're desperate for workers), while she's sitting there every single morning with a knot in her stomach, knowing she's only 25 and still has another 40 years of this ahead of her?

Yeah... hopefully she finally moved on. Silence, let us know if you actually survived those drills?

Raymond Clark7 said:And what's she supposed to do once she's there if her boss tells her, "Hey, you're doing great" (mostly just because they're desperate for workers), while she's sitting there every single morning with a knot in her stomach, knowing she's only 25 and still has another 40 years of this ahead of her?

Well, I guess she'll just grab a normal drink—much like all her colleagues who head into the office every day with that same sinking feeling in their gut. Just kidding. I really hope she doesn't.

If you've got the brains for it, an IT career is a solid move—freelancing lets you dodge most of those draining social interactions. You can just code, and if you're struggling to focus, finding the right antipsychotics can help organize your thoughts and dial down the anxiety, assuming you don't run into too many side effects. There are also options for ADHD.

The catch with antipsychotics is the risk of tardive dyskinesia after long-term use; we're talking uncontrollable limb movements that make it impossible to stand steady. Sometimes it stops when you quit the meds, but sometimes it's a lifelong struggle. Here’s a patient dealing with tardive dyskinesia: https://www.primehealthchannel.com/w...skinesia-2.jpg
US pharmaceutical companies developed a specific drug for tardive dyskinesia, but it’ll set you back $7,362 for a 28-capsule supply at 40-80mg.
While the brain volume loss caused by antipsychotics is relatively easy to address, the movement issues mentioned above? Not so much.

Lately, students have been leaning heavily on Modafinil to study, though it can definitely wreck your sleep schedule.

loneskipper10 said:If you've got the brains for it, an IT career is a solid move—freelancing lets you dodge most of those draining social interactions. You can just code, and if you're struggling to focus, finding the right antipsychotics can help organize your thoughts and dial down the anxiety, assuming you don't run into too many side effects. There are also options for ADHD.

The catch with antipsychotics is the risk of tardive dyskinesia after long-term use; we're talking uncontrollable limb movements that make it impossible to stand steady. Sometimes it stops when you quit the meds, but sometimes it's a lifelong struggle. Here’s a patient dealing with tardive dyskinesia: https://www.primehealthchannel.com/w...skinesia-2.jpg
US pharmaceutical companies developed a specific drug for tardive dyskinesia, but it’ll set you back $7,362 for a 28-capsule supply at 40-80mg.
While the brain volume loss caused by antipsychotics is relatively easy to address, the movement issues mentioned above? Not so much.

Lately, students have been leaning heavily on Modafinil to study, though it can definitely wreck your sleep schedule.

Honestly, the best move is to just shove a handful of pills down her throat immediately. Oh, what was that? Brain volume is shrinking? No big deal, we'll just fix that in a heartbeat with another pill! Boom—there goes $7,362 in a single shot.
And Modafinil? Sure, why not? It's basically like eating Tic Tacs.
Hellooo??? 😵

loneskipper10 said:If you've got the brains for it, an IT career is a solid move—freelancing lets you dodge most of those draining social interactions. You can just code, and if you're struggling to focus, finding the right antipsychotics can help organize your thoughts and dial down the anxiety, assuming you don't run into too many side effects. There are also options for ADHD.

The catch with antipsychotics is the risk of tardive dyskinesia after long-term use; we're talking uncontrollable limb movements that make it impossible to stand steady. Sometimes it stops when you quit the meds, but sometimes it's a lifelong struggle. Here’s a patient dealing with tardive dyskinesia: https://www.primehealthchannel.com/w...skinesia-2.jpg
US pharmaceutical companies developed a specific drug for tardive dyskinesia, but it’ll set you back $7,362 for a 28-capsule supply at 40-80mg.
While the brain volume loss caused by antipsychotics is relatively easy to address, the movement issues mentioned above? Not so much.

Lately, students have been leaning heavily on Modafinil to study, though it can definitely wreck your sleep schedule.

these are the online doctors I was talking about 🤣 so just stay professional, okay? It's like when someone spends over a decade in university and thinks they definitely don't need an antipsychotic, but then some friend of a friend tells them something they read on Google, and suddenly they're insisting that's the absolute most essential thing ever...😁

Wait, is anyone actually prescribing antipsychotics for social anxiety or stuff like that?? First I've ever heard of that.
Isn't that a bit much—especially considering all those side effects? I just don't get it 🤷

From what I can gather, she’s on antidepressants.

I have to admit, those posts from 😬
actually gave me a good laugh.

Honestly, based on everything I’ve heard about those antipsychotics—I wouldn't even touch them unless I was in such a massive psychosis that I was actually a danger to myself or someone else. 😁 I mean, if they work for some people, that’s great, but it feels like doctors are just handing them out for everything lately... Like using them for insomnia 🤷 which is just awful.

Gerald Gomez43 said:From what I can gather, she’s on antidepressants.

I have to admit, those posts from 😬
actually gave me a good laugh.

Me too 😬