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Does anyone else have the problem with their mind always blank?

18K views 45 replies 41 participants last post by  Midwesterner 
#1 ·
I get called on at meetings at work to put in my opinion and I never have nothing to say. I just say some really simple obvious thing with no effort or just agree so they move on to the next person. I cant even think straight while talking and my mind goes blank and I forget what im saying. Or sometimes i'll say something and not even make sense because I take my focus off talking and its like the focus is just blank!

Alot of times I just feel blank. I cant even think straight... especially when I am forced or pressured to talk and input my thoughts about things. My mind just goes blank. Its like im paralyzed! My whole personality is easy going and like "thats life". I dont really believe in rules... I believe that everyone is a person and should all treat each other equally. Instead of arrogant bosses being douches and I hate those co workers that constantly complain and cause drama over everything. Everyone I work with is like that. Im just like "whatever". People just cant be that way or what? I hate the social world!

When I am around certain people that I know that wont judge me, I am perfectly fine and I can express myself good. I can be outgoing with a few people that I am close to in this life and be a normal acting socialable person.
 
#29 ·
YES. I feel zoned out all day when I'm at work. The social environment is just too taxing and stressful on my brain so I guess it just shuts down or goes into autopilot to try and cope. Anytime someone tries to talk to me I get anxious and basically kill the conversation my giving one word answers. The anxiety completely sabotages the ability to think on my feet and have a conversation, and it only gets worse because after I'll beat myself up over it and get depressed. At the same time, whenever I have tried to battle through the panic and anxiety and talk I say the stupidest sh*t, and feel like I come off brash or rude. Everything just comes out wrong.
 
#30 ·
That has been always my main problem related to SA; never know what to say, how to say it and when I say something I realize it's so simple or even something incoherent.

I think it's just a lack of empathy too because I can't even talk about serious or sensible things with anyone either. Then I think it's all because of the SA that blocks my mind from expressing all I want to say but then how does it happen to me when I'm with people I have confidence with?, my family for example, I don't know..
 
#31 ·
Going up to people to start a conversation is a problem and even talking in front of an audience is a problem. Whenever I speak to people it is always the same thing over and over again that I cannot come up with anything else to say. It is as if I have no interest in anything at all. I feel as if I cannot connect with anybody with my SA because i always get to nervous talking to people. Sometimes i feel so much like a robot because i always just agree and never put out my personal opinion. I feel as if I really do not matter to much in this world and suffocating in a world with interests and relationships. I have many people around me all the time approaching me and asking me how my day is and stuff and asking me certain questions but i cant never come up with anything more than a one word or short phrased answer which seems pretty dull. I guess it is the fact that i always compare myself to other people that might be holding me back. But all in all my mind just feels blank. I feel like my 23 years of life was just a waste. What to do!?!?!
 
#32 ·
Yeah, my mind is usually blank unless I'm with people I'm really comfortable with. Even when I'm with old friends that I haven't seen in a while it takes me a good amount of time to reach the same level of comfort. I'm on the same page as a lot of you: I usually just agree with what people say or just have robotic responses. My roommate who was judgmental but still one of my best friends called me out on it once during a game of beer pong. I guess I was just there saying robotic phrases in relation to the game and he told the girl he was playing with "see, he just says phrases," or something like that. And my response to that was probably one of the phrases like "yup, yup" or something really stupid.
 
#34 ·
I have the same problem. I grew up very shy. I work in retail and it has forced me to be outgoing. I still however can not talk in front of groups of people. My mind goes blank and i panic. I recently had to present in front of our district manager and completely messed it all up. Not because i don't know the material but because my mind went blank. My boss doesnt understand and i know they have talked about my awful presentation skills before. My boss has told me. I have explained to my boss that i have a fear of public speakig but she brushed it off and says you just need to do it amd you will get over it. I know sje hasnt told our district manager about my problem so my district manager just thinks i dont know what i am talking about or that i just dont know the answer. What's worse is that they are both very critical and very impatient. They are both the type that cut you off while you are talking or just ignore you. I am afraid they are going to "push" me out of the company. I,'by the way have been with the company 10 years and have always had good reviews but lately i feel like they have both turned on me. Especially after the incident i described above.
 
#39 ·
Yeah .. Tbh in social situations I find it hard to care about what people are saying sometimes. I'm laid back when it comes to certain topics and just don't have anything to say about them cus I don't freakin care. But when I do have something to say and by the time my mind has gathered my thoughts, usually someone else has said it..
 
#41 ·
Yes! As soon as there's any pressure on what i'm about to say. My mind goes completely blank like any thougts i've had have just slipped out of my mind and then my mouth has been cut off from my brain. It happens in class when called on, even though i might have had some interesting thoughts on the subject just before i was called. I have to stutter out i don't know, or turn red and shake my head. In interviews, "tell me about yourself?" "......ummm". In groups of people it's bad to, there might be an interesting conversation going on that i'd love to be a part of, but when i go and reach for something to say i hit a glass wall. It's frustrating.
 
#46 ·
Nature doesn't favor us. We are naturally have less to say than outgoing people.

I do believe though, that if we keep working on talking to people over and over again, we can be even better than some outgoing people at talking to people.

I've tried studying things to say to women and I had a little success.

I think a good idea would be to make a thread on conversation. I may try that.
 
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