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Suggest Treatment For Social Anxiety

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Posted on Wed, 1 Jun 2016
Question: I am a 32 year old male. I have been diagnosed with social anxiety 4 years ago. I have been on Seroxat since then I have had good progress on the social anxiety front although I have to admit at times I did feel socially anxious. I had a problem even maintaining an eye contact with a person and used to get spaced out during a conversation. Now with the Seroxat certainly things are much better


There is another thing which keeps bothering me. When I talk I feel that my mouth movements are not how it used to be. Over the years I have observed that my speech is very slurred and as a result of this my speech clarity and pronunciation has suffered and I do not feel connected to my inner self when I am talking. The talking seems very shallow to me. The facial/lip movement seem lethargic and due to this my pronunciation suffers. My psychiatrist tells me that this is certainly anxiety related. However I do not find much help from Seroxat that I am consuming. I have also tried using Propranolol as suggested by one of the doctors from health care magic(with approval from my psychiatrist). But that also does not seem to help.
Can you please let me know what I can do do regain my confidence while speaking and how to overcome the speech slurring ?
Note: I had been diagnosed with muscle tension dysphonia in the past which causes the muscles around my vocal cords to strain while speaking. My psychiatrist thinks there could be an anxiety component to it and certainly I do observe that at a higher dosage of seroxat muscle tension dysphonia is improved. The reason I mentioned this because I would like to know if there is any relevance to the speech slurring that I am facing now.
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Answered by Dr. Chintan Solanki (1 hour later)
Brief Answer:
low dose benzodiazpine and psychothepray

Detailed Answer:
Hello XXXXXXX

Thanks for writing to us. I can understand your concern.

Seroxat is really a very good drug for anxiety disorder and I frequently use in my patients. I also feel that your problem of speech is likely due to anxiety as I have seen same problems in few patients with anxiety.

I recommend low dose benzodiazepine like etizolam or clonazepam to improve this anxiety. However in long run psychotherapy would help. Detail counseling, speech therapy and cognitive behavior therapy will help to get confidence in speaking and avoid slurring. You can discuss these aspects with your treating doctor and move ahead.

I also want to mention that don't concentrate much on your speech while you speak as over concern creates apprehension which indirectly affects speech. Keep a voice recorder and later on hear what you speak and then try to improve. You can also ask your close family member or friends who are aware about this problem to help you in this matter and guide you in positive manner. Remember that 'Practice makes the man perfect'.

Hope I have answered your query, I will be happy to help further.
Regards,
Dr.Chintan Solanki.
Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Chintan Solanki

Psychiatrist

Practicing since :2007

Answered : 2406 Questions

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Suggest Treatment For Social Anxiety

Brief Answer: low dose benzodiazpine and psychothepray Detailed Answer: Hello XXXXXXX Thanks for writing to us. I can understand your concern. Seroxat is really a very good drug for anxiety disorder and I frequently use in my patients. I also feel that your problem of speech is likely due to anxiety as I have seen same problems in few patients with anxiety. I recommend low dose benzodiazepine like etizolam or clonazepam to improve this anxiety. However in long run psychotherapy would help. Detail counseling, speech therapy and cognitive behavior therapy will help to get confidence in speaking and avoid slurring. You can discuss these aspects with your treating doctor and move ahead. I also want to mention that don't concentrate much on your speech while you speak as over concern creates apprehension which indirectly affects speech. Keep a voice recorder and later on hear what you speak and then try to improve. You can also ask your close family member or friends who are aware about this problem to help you in this matter and guide you in positive manner. Remember that 'Practice makes the man perfect'. Hope I have answered your query, I will be happy to help further. Regards, Dr.Chintan Solanki.