"Public Speaking Anxiety in College Students: Developing A Treatment Protocol Through Correlation Of Socio-Environmental Causes To Non-Traditional Treatment Methods"
Description
Public speaking is an irreplaceable, often overlooked, life skill. Despite its relevance in all jobs, professionals and adolescents often evade public speaking, experience extreme stress, and are not confident in their skills. When individuals experience severe, debilitating anxiety while speaking publicly, they can be diagnosed with public speaking anxiety (PSA). Common treatments for PSA include CBT and ABBT, which have shown moderate effectiveness, but are inaccessible, especially to college aged students. This investigation explored specific causes of PSA, treatments for various psychological disorders, considered their application to public speaking anxiety, assessed their effectiveness, and correlated them to the examined causes of PSA. The defined and examined causes were low self-confidence, audience interest, and poor past experiences. The purpose of this investigation is to provide an alternative, more individualized treatment method for PSA college aged students, and to suggest a new protocol for diagnosis and treatment. This investigation was conducted through examination of causes of PSA, as defined by socially anxious and non-socially anxious college aged students, and how these causes relate to four specific treatments: virtual reality therapy (VRT), eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), primordial energy activation and transcendence (PEAT) and non-psychoactive cannabidiol (CBD). It was found that when low self-confidence is a prominent cause of PSA, VRT and PEAT could be effective treatments due to their ability to desensitize patients and assess underlying issues, respectively. When audience interest is the primary cause of PSA, VRT and CBD are effective due to VRT’s ability to desensitize and CBD’s ability to lower cortisol production. Poor past experiences as the most prominent cause of PSA would be best treated through EMDR, due to EMDR’s effectiveness in treating PTSD patients. The conclusions of the investigation are most applicable to PSA individuals who have been unsuccessful in treatment through traditional methods.
Presentation Type
Presentation
"Public Speaking Anxiety in College Students: Developing A Treatment Protocol Through Correlation Of Socio-Environmental Causes To Non-Traditional Treatment Methods"
Public speaking is an irreplaceable, often overlooked, life skill. Despite its relevance in all jobs, professionals and adolescents often evade public speaking, experience extreme stress, and are not confident in their skills. When individuals experience severe, debilitating anxiety while speaking publicly, they can be diagnosed with public speaking anxiety (PSA). Common treatments for PSA include CBT and ABBT, which have shown moderate effectiveness, but are inaccessible, especially to college aged students. This investigation explored specific causes of PSA, treatments for various psychological disorders, considered their application to public speaking anxiety, assessed their effectiveness, and correlated them to the examined causes of PSA. The defined and examined causes were low self-confidence, audience interest, and poor past experiences. The purpose of this investigation is to provide an alternative, more individualized treatment method for PSA college aged students, and to suggest a new protocol for diagnosis and treatment. This investigation was conducted through examination of causes of PSA, as defined by socially anxious and non-socially anxious college aged students, and how these causes relate to four specific treatments: virtual reality therapy (VRT), eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), primordial energy activation and transcendence (PEAT) and non-psychoactive cannabidiol (CBD). It was found that when low self-confidence is a prominent cause of PSA, VRT and PEAT could be effective treatments due to their ability to desensitize patients and assess underlying issues, respectively. When audience interest is the primary cause of PSA, VRT and CBD are effective due to VRT’s ability to desensitize and CBD’s ability to lower cortisol production. Poor past experiences as the most prominent cause of PSA would be best treated through EMDR, due to EMDR’s effectiveness in treating PTSD patients. The conclusions of the investigation are most applicable to PSA individuals who have been unsuccessful in treatment through traditional methods.
Comments
This oral presentation is based on an individual research project.