hey everyone, ok, so I am a lisenced nail technician. I am in and out of school, working toward a degree in psychology (hoping to not take any more semesters off). I love the study of Psychology, it is very interesting to me, and I like to help others. That is how I found this forum, but I also have some problems of my own. I will try to not make this too long.
Back in November, I think I had what is a Panick Attack at work. I was finishing a manicure on a woman, and when I was polishing her, I began to feel extremely hot, sweating (although, I frequently sweat under my armpits, especially in social situations, social anxiety disorder?), anxious, then (the worst part of all) my hands began shaking so bad that I could not finish polishing her. I had to excuse myself, and another nail tech. had to finish my service. I ran to the back, and acted as if I felt sick, and told everyone I felt like I was going to pass out to cover up what was really going on. For weeks after this event, I was so afraid of a reacurring attack, that every time I was about to polish, I would begin to have another attack. I had to stick it out anyways, because I have to finish the service that the person paid for, it is my job! I live off of doing nails, I do not have any other skills that would get me a job paying as much as I get paid to do nails. So that is what i have to do atleast until I graduate for me to be able to pay my bills. I never got nervouse like this before when I did services. In fact, polishing has always been my strong point, I feel that i am very good at it. I have enjoyed being a nail tech, until these attacks started occurring. I wasn't even nervous when I took the state exam. Its just ever since this incident. I went to a Whole Foods store and got some stuff called Kava. It's an herb that is supposed to help calm you in social situations. I took it a few times before work, but it made me feel too drowsy, and I have to have allot of energy to do my job well. I began to try and fix myself cognitively as well. That has been the most effective. I have gotten much better, but I still have occasions where I begin to feel nervous, and I just try to shut it out of my mind. I still feel like it does effect my performance still, even though the anxousness is more minor now. I usually begin to feel the most nervous when I have a snobby or difficult client. Anyways, what I am really wandering is, should I look into seeing a psychiatrist to prescribe me a medication to further help me. Also, what are usually the side effects of such med.'s prescribed for this problem.