anxiety

[Deb Britt]

I don't think there is anything wrong about going to a meeting and not
presenting.  There are lots of other reasons for being there:  to learn,
to meet and mingle, and even to jump-start your motivation so you are
ready to run when you get home.  If someone asks why you aren't
presenting, say something non-committal, like "the timing didn't work out
this year" then change the subject.  

I don't have any magic formula for feeling better when things aren't going
well, but just remember, it happens to everyone at times.  The approaches
I try myself are: giving a good cleanup to my lab area or office (feels
like a fresh start); spending some time organizing my thoughts, making
lists of what I have accomplished and what my goals are (and making sure
those goals are realistic); venting with friends, or discussing science
with others in the department; or sometimes just getting away from the lab
for a little while.  Of course, these are  simple solutions to occassional
down-in-the-dumps.  If your depression is long-lasting, or you feel that
your situation is intolerable, then you need to consider what is making
you unhappy, and how you can change it. Good luck.

Deb 

In article <a-schmi-1404972340080001 at vortex5.life.uiuc.edu>,
a-schmi at uiuc.edu (aloisia t schmid) wrote:

> This is a bizarre posting---I'll admit it at the outset.  But I have had a
> really rotten day and more to come in the very near future and I can't
> help but seek solid advice from this group.  Two problems really:
> 
> I am having to go to a meeting for the first time where I am not
> presenting something (for a long list of reasons---some of them being my
> own fault!) and feel so embarrassed about that.  What is the appropriate
> and least self-deprecating thing to say to people when they ask why you
> aren't presenting? 
> 
> And maybe this is more to the point.  When you all are feeling really low
> and really down in the dumps, because maybe you haven't produced as much
> as you feel you should have or because you are having to deal with surly
> creeps....(and I mean surly creeps beyond all comprehension!)....  What
> are the ways you all talk yourself back into being positive and up-beat
> and motivated to keep on working?
> 
> 
>                         Alice

-- 
Deborah Britt, Ph.D.
Department of Medical Oncology
Rhode Island Hospital