Anxiety + Class presentations = Disaster? Or am I just to dam hypersensitive?

I have social anxiety. I had a class presentation 2 days ago that was a complete failure. I tried doing my presentation going off a list of key words because I knew the material well enough that I thought I could give the presentation without notecards or reading from my paper. Boy was I wrong. My mind went blank, I began stumbling over my words, and I ended up grabbing my paper and reading off of it. I will never try doing that again...Im kind of nervous going back to class next week considering how idiotic I looked to everyone wed.

That sounds like it was very awkward. Believe me, I've had experiences like that as well. I think most people experience something like that at least once in their lives. Social anxiety can be crippling, or it can just be a minor nuisance. Either way, its totally treatable. Talk therapy has been shown to have some great results in a relatively short period of time. Also, how much do you exercise? You may not think it, but regular vigorous exercise can work wonders with anxiety of any kind. You should also avoid stimulants (including caffeine!) especially on days when you have presentations.

If nothing is working, you can also see a doctor and ask about medications. However, I'd wait until you've tried everything else first, even 'alternative' approaches (herbs, yoga, whatever), since the prescriptions all have side effects.

Good luck, I hope you find relief from it soon. Keep your head up in the meantime!