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I've developed a bit of social phobia, now I avoid

Posted By: people, in therapy though... on 2005-08-02
In Reply to:

I listen to social anxiety tapes, Dr. Richards, because i'm finding I want to be around people now, just have forgotten how. When i'm in a conversation, even with people i've known forever, where attention is focused on me I feel this fight or flight feeling, get nervous and turn red, just uncomfortable with socializing. Getting better though.

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The only way I've found to avoid this is to.....

have three part-time jobs. I used to have one full time and two part time, but just recently went to three part time.

I NEVER run out of work now, but always have in the past six years in the business. This works for me, but took almost a year to balance the three so I'm not working a ton of hours.

Sorry to say - I have a phobia when it comes to homosexuals. No thanks! nm
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Way too funny. Thanks! I got over elevator phobia by
just walking on and saying, "So how are you all doing today?" You'd be surprised at how some people just want to get off and others will start telling you their life story.

Pass on the spinach. E. coli phobia. nm
nm

I need some help regarding an infected hematoma that i developed..

I had a laparoscopic procedure to remove an adhesion. As most of you know, 3 incisions are made in this procedure; the bellybutton, along the side of your abdomen, and along the bikini line. The adhesion was taken out through the bikini line incision. The other day, I felt a lump in that area and noticed redness, which spread quite quickly. I went to the doc today and he said i had an infected hematoma and put me on oral antibiotics. He said if it did not improve he would need to drain it and possibly put me on IV antibiotics. I cannot find information on this anywhere and I don't know if this is dangerous or not. I am terrified. Can this lead to sepsis? Or any other type of problem? Please, if you have any information, good or bad, please please please let me know. Not knowing is scary and you all know how 'vague' doctors can be.

THANKS!!

Sotmed is the name of a company and they developed
software - believe it is ChartScript?? and something else - and I believe works with InstantText

I agree here. He may have developed a new relationship on the side. Sorry. nm
n

It is a proprietary program developed by the company. No, very few sm
people do over 300 lph. Most top out at a little over 200, if that, a lot at around 150 lph. It is not the platform's fault. It is decent. It is up to the transcriptionist. ASR is a huge part of this platform now, and will become more as days go by.

You are correct. Developed by a transcription company, but a division also lease its use to sm

facilities. I knew that, but had never encountered anyone who works with it in the real world who doesn't not work for the specific company that developed it. They keep us pretty much in the dark about that stuff.

anyway, when the platform is working well, it is not impossible to make over 300 lph. 350 would be rare, and depend a lot on formatting, what you are paid for and what you are not paid for.

Any way to avoid it?
My parents both lost hearing with age and I have seen how isolating it is.

Is there any way to avoid that with this job? I try to keep my volume down, but they way the dictators speak, I can't help but crank the volume quite a bit.

Did enough rock & roll blasting when I was young!

Any ideas?

Here's one to avoid -
My BF picked this up to try it for his laptop. It worked great for the first few days (long enough to get past the 'money back' offer), and then it suddenly began disconnecting him up to 12 to 15 times in a 4 hour period. I'm not sure about the legalities of using these types of devices to transcribe medical reports so I never tried it, but he said it was one of the most frustrating internet situations he'd ever been through.

If you've got Cricket stations in your area and they're offering their "unlimited" broad-band service for $40/month, I'd suggest applying that $40 toward a reliable service.

It can be fun if you avoid the aggravation which I try to do - sm
Yes, it does bring out the worst in people...we got up to get ice cream after my 5 & 7 y/o had finished their lunch, left out drinks and my 1 bag purchase on the table, came back after maybe 5 minutes to find 2 ladies had helped themselves to our table, I was pretty pissed, but just gathered up our stuff (only 2 seats left for 3 people) and said we needed to find a place to sit, neither lady batted an eyelid or said a word. Kids asked why we didn't stay, I said I feared I wouldn't be too polite if we had stuck around since I was ticked. So we sat at the steps of the little stage area in the food court area and they had their ice cream that way. So that was the only wrinkle in the day basically. Kids had fun, we never dealt anything too horrendous, and I got a couple things accomplished without having to deal with the hardcore nut cases.

avoid refunds
Why would you want a refund? If you're getting a refund that just means you overpaid your taxes the previous year; in effect you gave the government an interest-free loan of YOUR MONEY.
Ideally you should set up your withholding so that you end up having to pay some extra taxes when you file your return (but not so much as to trigger a penalty). That way you get to hold on to your money as long as possible and can at least earn some interest by keeping it in a CD or money market account.

Do not avoid them. They are willing to work with you
because they want you to make your payment.

Read all the letters they send you some mortgage companies will point you in the right direction like using a third party to help you get caught up.

I never thought I would get hit with foreclosure but it happened to me and luckily as the poster below, my family was able to bail me out.

I still owe my family thousands because they tacked legal fees on top of what I owed and the mortgage company not only wanted what was late but also two month's mortgage in advance all in one lump sum!

Good luck...

Just want to avoid the same mistake...nm
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None. I try to avoid caffeine.
nm

Yes, have done my own...avoid going to docs where I know...sm
the MT. I would not want anyone I know doing mine.

I would like to know to, so I can avoid applying
there. 3 cpl is awful.

I do have kids. They can have pop and chips, but I try to avoid it.
And Iecture them on the value of healthy food. LOL My diet used to be horrible until it caught up with me with my last pregnancy. I was frequently hypoglycemic and had high blood sugar. Then I had two irregular EKGs before a surgery. I've basically been scared into becoming healthier.

I definitely think its best to avoid relatives this year.
I'll join you for a toast on Thanksgiving? The idea of being alone during the holidays still sucks, but its a change from the strain of being with relatives, and a first. Might be kinda nice I guess.

Avoid Focus Infomatics!
I worked for Focus for a couple of months, and I absolutely hated it! They offshore their QA and tech support to India, and you can never understand a work they are saying when they call you to train you on their software, which is the worst program that I have ever transcribed in. It was always freezing up, losing connection to the VPN, and it cost me so much money because I kept losing work that I had done. Their tech support would take forever to respond when I IM'd them, and they were hardly ever very helpful at all. It is also true that they deduct pay for mistakes. I now work full-time for Cymed, and I am so much happier!

You said THAT right! Most people avoid her type
nm

I try to avoid it, but I'm a pretty good diagnostician.
Most of the time I'm right, but I hate to do it, cause they invariably will say, "then what should I do?" - at which point I have to tell them, "go to the doctor. I'm not a doctor, I'm a diagnostician."

No, just want to cut to the chase and avoid tne empty posts. nm
:+

How to avoid hiring an American (video)

Cut and paste this link into your brower and click on the video to play it. It's kinda long but worth it....just dang is all I gotta say about that.

http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/16421

My service told us to use mg/dL...as well as mL instead of ml, "to avoid confusion." nm
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Not coming up w/ much except construction paper...tyring to avoid that if I can. Thanks anyway. nm
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I prefer weekends. I find most cherrypickers also avoid
weekends, so I at least get a decent selection of work to do.

Accreditation matters. It helps to avoid scams, but not always. sm
Pick a good school. It is extremely difficult to get hired immediately, even when graduating from an accredited school. It is a hard row to hoe. Most companies require at least 2, usually 5 years of time on the job. They just don't have time to train new MTs.

I avoid numbers in my short forms and use letters
instead when needed. What I do most often is double-key a short form (same two letters) that goes back and adds slashes or dashes for dates and decimals. It's easier for me to key the numbers, then let a command entry edit when needed. You might want to go to Productivity Talk for a lot of great tips on learning IT.

Also avoid Antivirus 2008/2009. It is very nasty.
x

AVOID AT ALL COSTS SoftScript, Transcend, Medquist, OSI, Transolutions
SoftScript has bad, bad ESL accounts.

Transcend is notorious for running out of work while they have plenty of well-to-fo executives. They overhire, then nobody has any work. They will call you every day to "work extra" - that is, if they have any work to do.

Medquist is having a massive exodus because they have been sued for fraudulent billing. There are thousands of people looking for new jobs, so maybe you can get something soon.

OSI offshores like crazy but their worst problem are some of their lunatic department heads, one in particular with no experience and less of a brain. NO IDEA how to run a successful company able to keep good employees. Most of their best MTs have left and they are stuck with a bunch of MTs fresh out of school.

Transolutions - Low, low pay and horrible QA department that is not consistent and will write you up over crazy things like commas.

Garlic keeps you healthy. You smell so bad sick people avoid you.
x

Medical Bazaar is Indian and horrid. Avoid like the plague.

Here's the deal. The only way to avoid the pre-existing waiting period (usually 12 months) is to
insurances..Even at that, say you have coverage until the end of July miss August and get new insurance September 1, your new insurance cant do a 12-month waiting on you for pre-existing but they can make you wait that 1 month that you didnt have insurance so...in effect, if you new insurance starts on Sept 1..it wouldnt have to cover a preexisting problem until October 1 cuz you missed a month. My advice.. keep the Cobra.. I know it's a fortunate but if you had any kind of complication or anything related to a preexisting and you have to miss a month of coverage..it could be really painful. Let me know if you have any more questions.

social anxiety
Maybe we're loners.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/partyofone/

Social anxiety, yes!!
So good to know I am not alone. Just last night I was at karate class watching my kids and watching all the other moms interact. This is how it always is for me. Watching everyone else chat and laugh and have a good time. I am very uncomfortable in social situations, and it seems like everyone else is not at all uncomfortable. Feels like I am the only one in the world with this. I don't really want to rely on a med, but I don't know how to get past this. All my neighbors are very close knit, I am the only one who never interacts or joins in on the get-togethers. They must think I'm stuck up. The truth is, I would rather take a beating than go to a block party! Any ideas on how to get past this?

social recluse
Why would anyone become an MT if they needed a lot of socializing? One of the main reasons I became an MT is lack of need for interaction with others.

I was a social recluse before this job.
...which I guess is why I have adapted so well to it. I could never handle gossip or having to walk around pretending to be a happy "team member" in an office setting. I watch "The Office" as a reminder as to how pukey that whole workin' in an office situation really is...but it is extremely funny when you aren't a part of that atmosphere anymore though. I once worked with a female version of Dwight and it was so not funny. Dwight=funny.

Social graces?
Been there done that. I have a Jewish doctor who mumbles and has a very strong New York accent - - and he has no social graces whatsoever - - burps, sneezes, coughs, sucks snot, eats with his mouth full -- YUK!!! The worst part is you have to listen again because you couldn't understand what he said the first or second time.

As an IC MT do you pay into Social Security? SM

I am an IC MT in California. Does anyone know if we can pay into SS so that we get compensated for retirement? As of yet, I have not but would like to in the future, if it is possible.

TIA

Social Security
If I understand it right, assuming you are paying your federal taxes, you are paying Social Security. It's something like 15.3% of your reported income, half of which you get to deduct if your income is under $102,000. Gee, think I just barely fall under that tax bracket! Google "self-employed social security" or something along those lines for a full explanation.

I need the social interaction too -
I have been applying for jobs in town everywhere, not necessarily in the medical field, but I am also spoiled - I get to thinking about it and wonder whether I really want to work 20 hours a week for 6 dollars when I could make that in 3 hours at home...

So, I decided I was going to go back to college part time and get a degree in something that would pay me what I make in transcription and give me the option of getting out of my house and meeting people and becoming human again.

I loved my job for a long time, but lately it is taking a toll on my health and emotional welfare. I have a degenerative joint problem in which the doctor told me I would be better off as the door greeter at Walmart than sitting in this darn chair all the time... I am becoming withdrawn from the world, I have gained lots of weight, and just feel down and depressed all the time.

It's time for me to "get a life" before I get too old and have these same problems with age discrimination.

I hate shopping. I do mine on-line and avoid the annoying crowds.
x

If allergic to nickel, then avoid green beans, broccoli, peas, etc.
I have that same allergy, had problems with the old metal zippers, snaps, etc.

This is a link for metal/nickel allergy

http://dermnetnz.org/dermatitis/nickel-allergy.html

if a new headset doesn't help, plug directly into CPU and avoid speakers and see if that helps.
;

I don't have much of a social life myself, but working on it
But being in my mid 30s I don't know if i'm going to click with anyone. I just know I cannot do the online dating anymore! Its so disppointing meeting the person after they've built themselves up AND have used the best picture ever taken of them in their entire lives on their profile. Some people swear theyve had good luck, its about 50/50. Its just not for me, very awkward and weird. Thats why a reality TV show on it will be fabulous! I'm just hoping its on tonight, supposedly ABC or something.

There is a balance though, people who are too social
People who tend to spend a lot of time alone seem to be a little sad. Just mix it up a little and find your balance. For me, if i'm around people too much, I feel absolutely drained, but if i'm totally isolated, I feel trapped and sad. So I socialize a couple times a week by taking classes, seeing family members, talking to neighbors, meeting up with a friend, and thats enough. Just not everyday, maybe not even every two days!

They are. Many of them get social security checks for
mental illness or other issues. Some of them spend their social security checks the day they get them on booze and gambling. Some people CHOOSE to be homeless, if you can believe that. There are programs out there for them if they apply. I got to know the homeless population of our city pretty well at one of my former job. I could tell you some stories about some of those characters. One guy is homeless, but he could have his house and bank account, his military retirement, and his social security. Instead, he pushes a cart around town and sleeps on park benches. One woman runs down the street in nothing but polyester pants pulled up to her armpits in the bitter cold of winter. She has shoes and a coat, plus welfare and social security benefits.

As far as the social situation is concerned, get

him in cub scouts, community sports, etc. This is really not an educational issue IMO and not the responsibility of the school system.

The school system in most cases will try to do as little as possible for your child, but if you have a diagnosis, you can write an IEP and they have a legal obligation to follow it, whether they like it or not. They also have to provide testing, like it or not, but we always had ours done on our own as I didn't feel like I would get an honest evaluation from the school system.