Forums >Health and Nutrition>Overcoming the fear of facing the crowd
Hey, my younger son is eight years old. I have noticed that he is good at sports. He performs well and runs really fast when he is with his siblings. But, he is scared to face the huge crowd. He is not interested in performing in front of the crowd. He wasted several good opportunities because of this fear. His father is a marathon racer and he wants his son to become a good athlete as him. But his fear and anxiety are drawing him back. I think this is going to affect his future in a bad way. My husband has asked me to take him to a psychologist in Toronto. He is saying that it will be better and effective if we took him to a psychologist at this young age. But, I am doubtful. Is it necessary to take my child to a psychologist? Will he gain confidence in the future? What do you guys think?
Easy. Have him run blindfolded. Then he won't notice the huge crowds that turn out for kids races.
There was a point in my life when I ran. Now, I just run.
We are always running for the thrill of it
Always pushing up the hill, searching for the thrill of it
I would not push him to compete in formal races with crowds. I would not push him to compete at all. And I would never send him to a shrink just because he does not want to compete in organized events.
My daughter liked to play soccer until she got to the age where they started using strategy and tactics. Then she lost interest. My wife and I did not pressure her to compete. She was, and is, a happy well adjusted person all the way through high school. Then she joined the Marines, where she is even happier.
Push kids to do well in school, but not in sports. Pushing them in sports has backfired on many parents.
This is kind of hard to know what to do. On one hand it's not good to push kids into sports but on the other hand there is a real danger of teaching them that it's OK to let anxiety rule their lives.
My mother has social anxiety disorder. This has stopped her from doing much in life. Not that she's a bad person but her life always revolved around being a stay at home mom and going to church and that was only on Sunday and Wed night. She would never get involved with any of the other social activities. We kids were not allowed to participate in school activities, camping with friends or any type of activities really. Nothing that would cause her to stress in a social situation. On top of that I was a painfully shy kid. Those two things combined really set me back in life and I missed out on so many opportunities. Heck, I didn't even eat out in restaurant until I was about 16-17. Still remember the first one I ate at.
Fast forward to the time that I had my own kids. Daughter was outgoing, son was very shy. He was very resistant to going into any new situation. When he was in 7th grade he switched schools to one that had a soccer program. Basically we made him sign up and I just dropped him off and left him with the coach and bunch of other people that he didn't know. Of course he knew that we supported him and we had talked about it before hand. He did well and was glad that he had went and played for the rest of his school years. That has been how he has reacted through his life. He approaches every new situation with hesitation and you can tell he's nervous. He has learned to dive into it and actually makes friends easily. He will freely admit that our pushing him was good for him. Now he's in the National Guard and has been pushing to travel with his unit on every assignment. Still gets nervous before he goes but pushed through it. I can easily see that if I had not pushed him he would have ended up like my mother, just sitting at home and never really doing anything with his life.
I'm not really offering this as advice, but more as a perspective from a family that suffers from shyness and social anxiety disorder. Is his anxiety just related to sports or does he try to avoid all stressful situations? It could just be that he's feeling too much pressure from his dad to perform. Maybe find other activities that are not sports related
I guess my concern is that if he never learns to confront any fears he will grow up to be a hermit never going to college, getting a job etc.
Is his anxiety just related to sports or does he try to avoid all stressful situations?
Pretty sure his anxiety is related to a fake account posting spam to get you to click on a link for some shrink in Canada. Very stressful.
Hi, Everybody!
Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and roguesWe're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes
Hi Doctor Nick!
Pretty sure his anxiety is related to a fake account posting spam to get you to click on a link for some shrink in Canada. Very stressful. Hi, Everybody!
Have you tried talking to him about the importance of water in maintaining a healthy physique?
Runners run
#RunEveryDay
I think he's young and if he's scared of big crowds, that's not a big deal. Good opportunities are not necessarily good or wasted if it's something he doesn't really want to do. There is a lot of time yet for him to decide on racing or not. Maybe he's intimidated bc his Dad is a good athlete and he worries even at his young age he can't live up to expectations. He runs around with his siblings, awesome! Encourage him to keep being active in ways that he is comfortable with. At 8, he's a kid. Let him be a kid.
Half Fanatic #9292.
Game Admin for RA Running Game 2023.
Is he related to any of these other fine folks I found in rando chat sites? (Yeah, I have some downtime this afternoon, I just hate to see good people responding honestly to bad spam)....
"Hi, my younger sister is twenty-two years old. She has a shy character. She speaks well when she is at home, but she is scared to face the crowd. She is an excellent singer, but was never able to showcase her talent because of her timid nature. She prays regularly and has a desire to participate in the choir. Her shy nature is holding her back. I think that this is going to affect her future very badly. My family is planning to make her undergo a low self-esteem treatment (SAME SPAMY LINK) from Toronto and we are hoping that it works out well. Is there any method to boost her confidence? Please share guys!"
"Hi, my best friend's mom is suffering from Alzheimer’s and it is very painful to watch her situation right now. She is the only child and her father passed away at a very young age. Her mother was everything to her and now her mother can't even recognize her face. I tried to comfort her, but every effort was useless. She is suffering from depression and I am very tensed to see her situation right now. My sister asked me to make her undergo a depression treatment (SAME SPAMY LINK) from Toronto. Will that treatment do any good? I think she might go mad if she continues like this. Can anyone of you please give some advise on how to bring her out of depression?"
"Hi!! I live in Toronto along with my aunt for the past few months. I have been in a relationship, unfortunately, my boyfriend passed away in an accident a few months back. I was very shocked by the news and still didn't overcome it. I'm currently under depression and because of this, my parents send me over to my aunt's house. My aunt is compelling me to undergo depression treatment from a clinic (SAME SPAMY LINK) in her locality but I don't feel to go for it. I'm not interested in anything. I feel very lonely and have no hope. What am I supposed to do? Any advice is highly appreciated!!"
not bad for mile 25
Apparently they have a storyteller on staff. Probably would sell those services as well, if you asked.
You mean I've been scammed by a spammer ??? Maybe I need to see a shrink now . Or maybe I just need to click on links to see where they go. But only on my work computer so I don't have to deal with the viruses, herpes or whatever else it shares from computer to computer.
Oh well, whatever.
undue monkey
To all you cool people who gave honest and helpful answers, God bless you. And if God is not your thing, thank you for showing some humanity. The good kind.
To annerichardson, go fuck yourself and your Canadian linkage. I mean, I know you're reading this, right?
...and thanks for posting Dr. Nick. This makes be smile.
annerichardson,
You know what gives me anxiety? It's that the Toronto city airport is on and island and you must take a ferry to get to it from downtown. I mean why not build a bridge? If I'm running late and have to wait for a ferry while worrying about missing my flight I'd be crushed. This is why I run. I can't stand waiting! Perhaps you can have your husband ask the Toronto psychotherapist to talk me through it on my next trip. It would really boost my confidence that I'd catch my flight back home. But, I am doubtful. Perhaps I should just swim across the channel instead. What do you think?
The kid's eight. There's nothing wrong with him. Stage fright is quite natural for many people, kids and adults. Not everyone is born a performer. I was terrified of the stage when I was young. My parents never pushed me to perform. Lo and behold, I became a performer in my teens and into adulthood, performing theater and rock music to crowds of all sizes. If my parents would have tried to mold me in their image, perhaps it would have never happened. They would have been overreacting to have taken me to a psychologist, as if everyone is supposed to love the crowds or something. There was nothing wrong with me, I was just a boy.