Anxiety and Stress Forum - Anxiety: Fear of speaking! Should I Try St. John's Wort?

Mental Health > Anxiety and Stress Forum > Anxiety: Fear of speaking! Should I Try St. John's Wort?

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Q: Anxiety: Fear of speaking! Should I Try St. John's Wort?

asked by: le138 on September 7th, 2007

New User

Hi, I'm a 20-year-old female who is struggling with anxiety. Whenever I go to work or to a class where I know I have to speak out a lot, I get extremely nervous. My body tenses up and my stomach starts grumbling...loudly. For this reason, I often dread going out. Furthermore, I've grown to develop a kind of phobia of quiet places for fear that everyone will hear my nervous stomach growl.

Along with starting to take a probiotic for my stomach (to ensure proper digestion), I was thinking of taking St. John's Wort to help me relax a little and start to enjoy work and classes. I used to love going to work and class. But now, I fear almost anything that requires me to interact with other people I don't know very well. I'm constantly afraid of being judged and ridiculed. I dwell on the things others say. I focus on the negative. And it's preventing me from being the person that I used to be - happy.

Is St. John's Wort a good idea?

Replies(1)

metalcrystal

replied on September 7th, 2007

Experienced User

Re: Should I Try St. John's Wort?

le138 wrote:

Hi, sounds like you have social anxiety, which is really common in people with anxiety disorder. Anxiety can also be a huge sign of underlying depression. I would go see your doc or your health center first. I looked into St. Johns Wort and read that it as strong as prescriptions drugs, and that "natural" stuff isn't regulated by the government. I wouldn't take anything like that without a doctor's supervsion. Good luck!

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