GLOSSOPHOBIA: SYMPTOMS, CAUSES, TREATMENT - ARTE - 2025

The glossophobia is the persistent fear, abnormal, excessive and unreasonable public speaking. People suffering from glossophobia experience high feelings of anxiety whenever they have to speak in public, a fact that in most cases prevents them from carrying out such actions.

This alteration differs from social phobia through the feared element. While in social phobia the person fears any type of activity that requires socializing, in glossophobia the feared element is only the activity of speaking in public.

Currently there are interventions that allow to overcome glossophobia, as well as a large number of training courses that can be of great help to lose the fear of speaking in public.

characteristics

Glossophobia is a type of specific phobia, an anxiety disorder characterized by experiencing high feelings of fear when speaking in public.

The anxiety response of the person with glossophobia whenever they have to speak in public is extremely high. This fact usually leads to the inability to carry out the activity and, in most cases, the escape from the feared situation.

Likewise, people with glossophobia have a marked tendency to avoid public speaking activities. Subjects with this alteration are aware that they are excessively afraid of these situations and tend to prefer to avoid them to also avoid the discomfort they experience at those times.

This fact usually has a negative impact on different areas of the person. Especially in educational and work settings, where such activities often have to be carried out.

A person with glossophobia not only has fear of academic or professional oral presentations, but also fears any type of public speaking activity, regardless of the context.

Symptoms

The fear of public speaking of glossophobia implies the appearance of an anxiety response whenever the person is exposed to this type of situation. In fact, at times manifestations of anxiety can even appear with the simple imagination of public speaking activities.

The anxiety response of glossophobia is characterized by being intense and can manifest itself in three different planes: the physical plane, the cognitive plane and the behavioral plane.

Physical plane

Physical symptoms are the first to appear and those that cause the greatest discomfort in the person. The fear of speaking in public makes the individual's brain increase its activity in the autonomic nervous system in these situations.

This cerebral phenomenon related to the fear response of the person implies the appearance of a series of modifications in the functioning of their organism, which are usually very annoying.

The physical manifestations of glossophobia can vary significantly in each case, so they do not usually adopt a unique pattern of presentation. The person with this type of specific phobia may experience any of the following symptoms whenever they are about to speak in public.

1. Increased heart rate.
2. Increased respiratory rate.
3. Palpitations and / or tachycardias.
4. Feeling of suffocation
5. Increased muscle tension.
6. Increased sweating
7. Pupillary dilation.
8. Dry mouth.
9. Stomach and / or headaches.
10. Nausea, dizziness, and vomiting.
11. Feeling of unreality.

Cognitive plane

At the cognitive level of glossophobia, the development of a series of irrational thoughts about the activity of public speaking stands out.

These thoughts can take multiple forms and contents in each case, but they are always characterized by negatively attributing the act of speaking in public.

The irrational cognitions typical of glossophobia are fed back with the physical manifestations to increase the person's state of anxiety.

Physical symptoms increase negative thoughts about speaking in public, while irrational cognitions also increase the physical symptoms of the person.

Behavioral plane

Finally, in order to speak of glossophobia and, therefore, differentiate it from shyness or other normal psychological conditions, it is necessary that the fear of public speaking affects the behavior of the person.

In this sense, a behavioral symptom stands out above all, avoidance. A person with glossophobia will avoid exposing himself to public speaking at all times, regardless of the consequences that this may entail.

When the subject with glossophobia is not able to avoid it and is exposed to public speaking, it is usual for other symptoms to appear.

Behavioral alterations marked by the anxiety experienced at those times, such as blockages, inability to speak, stuttering or trembling in speech are usually common manifestations.

Likewise, sometimes escape may also appear, a behavior that starts the person and whose sole objective is to escape from their feared situation to avoid the discomfort they are experiencing.

Glossophobia vs social phobia

Glossophobia is a disorder very similar to social phobia that can sometimes be confused. However, it is important to note that glossophobia is not the same as social phobia.

The main difference between the two disorders lies in the dreaded element. While in glossophobia the phobic stimulus results only from speaking in public, in social phobia all social situations are generally feared.

In this sense, a person with social phobia may have a phobic fear of having personal conversations, eating in public, writing in public or going to parties.

Thus, glossophobia can be understood as one more symptom of social phobia. A person with social phobia may fear public speaking in the same way as a person with glossophobia.

However, people with glossophobia do not have a phobic fear of any of the other social activities feared in social phobia.

Causes

Glossophobia does not have a single cause but rather several factors that may be involved in its development.

It is usual that the etiological elements of the disorder are not directly identifiable, since it is postulated that the development of glossophobia depends on the feedback of different factors.

In this sense, some of the elements that can be associated with glossophobia are:

-Experience of one or more personal traumatic incidents related to the activity of speaking in public.

-Visualization of one or more external traumatic incidents related to the activity of speaking in public.

-Progressive avoidance of public speaking activity.

-Negative beliefs about the activity of public speaking developed during the early stages.

Treatment

To intervene glossophobia, it is of vital importance to carry out psychotherapeutic sessions. Exposure to the phobic element is the main element that allows overcoming the fear of speaking in public.

Cognitive behavioral treatments are mainly based on exposing the subject to public speaking and working on the subject's anxiety responses in those situations to overcome the phobia.

On the other hand, there are currently multiple training programs to learn to speak in public that can be useful to control anxiety at such times.

References

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