Tips for controlling Anxiety

[Diiw]

Does anyone have tips about how to deal with anxiety while playing. I have an anxiety disorder which usually was never a big problem while playing and I had starred in two drama productions just fine. But recently I've started to get anxious playing alone and will start to **** up hard. I find it hard to even play in front of my own family. I used to play in a garage band with friends but school's picked up with us being in an accelerated program in the eight grade. Witch is what causing some of it plus other numerous things.

But my best friend has asked me to do a huge project with him where we would have to perform in class and I can hardly practice so I don't know how I'll do that. He knows about my disorder but really needs a good grade on this project so I couldn't say no.

So any tips to get over my anxiety would be appreciated. Also don't recommend the medications because I'm hatian American and my parents are sorta Americanized but my mom hates when I have to take them. It's a culture thing.

Sorry for long post

[fearceol]

The only advice I can give is to try to breathe slowly and deeply both before and during a performance.

Here is a link about treating anxiety. Try a search yourself to find more :

http://www.treatment-for-anxiety.org/

[ShredderMaximus]

Just relax, big deals today are small beans tomorrow and just focus on yourself and drummer(if applicable)

[HeadyVan Halen]

Practice in a different part of the house. That one chair in that one room could be your 'trigger'.
or
Play abnormally loud and just bang away at it. Do anything OTHER than what you've been doing.

The ol' lady use to have this. You can do it if you "Don't put your mind too it"...in other words try not to think about 'it'.

[ggunn]

My brother swears by tincture of St. John's wort for combating stage fright, but I'd bet that it's mostly the placebo effect. Like Dumbo and the "magic feather".

The best remedy for stage fright that I know of is knowing the material cold. Sometimes the only way past a problem is through it.

[Phalex]

Play more, and bigger jobs. The thrill wears off with time, and it's just a bunch of guys onstage doing their thing.

[jgroh]

I have an anxiety disorder, it was much worse when I was younger, and I went through years not knowing what was making me feel like I was having a heart attack. I have been playing bass since I was 16 (im almost 40 now) and even after I got married, my wife never heard me play. I was too anxious about it so I played after she went to bed into a headphone amp. So, I know what you are going through.

The only thing that did help me (sans medication) was to recognize when I was getting anxious (for me it was when my hands would get cold...sounds weird but in the fight or flight response, your blood moves away from your extremities to better help your heart and brain deal with the situation), and to breathe deep and slow. I would take a deep breath in, hold it for a few seconds, then let it out as slowly and I could. Then I would just try to talk to myself to put the situation into perspective. You are not going to be eaten by a large animal, or get shot, or anything like that so there is nothing to worry about really.

[Chef FourString]

You don't need drugs or a doctor. You must learn how to breath properly. My anxiety attacks used to make me vomit and shake and in my experience breathing is the best tool. Learn to control you heart and your breath. The teachings of body discipline in Buddhism helped me. Can't say it will do the same for you but the ability to control you body through your mind is what gets me through the day to day.

[Ben Clarke]

You should be seeking treatment from a professional, not bass players. Medication is not the only treatment for anxiety.

Talk to your parents about the trouble you are having and try to find a way to move forward with some sort of treatment - before this becomes a way of life for you. Meditation, yoga... that sort of thing might work. Unless mom has a problem with that too...

[Chef FourString]

Originally Posted by Ben Clarke

You should be seeking treatment from a professional, not bass players. Medication is not the only treatment for anxiety.

Talk to your parents about the trouble you are having and try to find a way to move forward with some sort of treatment - before this becomes a way of life for you. Meditation, yoga... that sort of thing might work. Unless mom has a problem with that too...

I did not say anything about meditation. You don't have to become a spiritual person or health nut in your process.
You are right about consulting a physician. But only for consultation. Most of the practitioners you will find will pump you full of poison and send you on your way. That is not something you want to become a part of you life.

[DanNowhere]

Avoid caffeine and energy drinks. If you smoke, quit. These aren't cures, but things I've found that reduce my anxiety somewhat. It never entirely goes away, though. For some reason, playing on stage is not something it interferes with, fortunately. It hits everyone in different ways.

[tZer]

Meditation != Medication

They are spelled similarly, however.

[Ben Clarke]

Meditation need not be spiritual (besides, I wasn't referring to your statement, I was offering my own advice). It can simply be a mental exercise. Your insistence on advising complete avoidance of medication is highly irresponsible and smacks of Scientology and snake healers. I can understand that opinion lingering with his mom due to a cultural connection to a scientifically backward society. Caution, education and understanding are called for - not blind avoidance of proven treatment methods.

Bottom line is this an 8th grader that needs to get his parents to give his condition attention and help. Following the ignorant advice to never take medicine is not going to help him.

Please take advice in this thread with a grain of salt and just get help for your condition from qualified, ethical professionals. TALK TO YOUR PARENTS!!!

Originally Posted by Chef FourString

I did not say anything about meditation. You don't have to become a spiritual person or health nut in your process.
You are right about consulting a physician. But only for consultation. Most of the practitioners you will find will pump you full of poison and send you on your way. That is not something you want to become a part of you life.

[Ben Clarke]

AND... physicians are not the only professionals that treat anxiety.

[HeadyVan Halen]

Originally Posted by Ben Clarke

Meditation need not be spiritual (besides, I wasn't referring to your statement, I was offering my own advice). It can simply be a mental exercise. Your insistence on advising complete avoidance of medication is highly irresponsible and smacks of Scientology and snake healers. I can understand that opinion lingering with his mom due to a cultural connection to a scientifically backward society. Caution, education and understanding are called for - not blind avoidance of proven treatment methods.

Bottom line is this an 8th grader that needs to get his parents to give his condition attention and help. Following the ignorant advice to never take medicine is not going to help him.

Please take advice in this thread with a grain of salt and just get help for your condition from qualified, ethical professionals. TALK TO YOUR PARENTS!!!

Wow..And on the other hand, Americans are known to throw pills at a problem until something happens. Medication should be the last resort if you ask me.

We all have sh!t and learning to deal/cope is a better strategy than a prescription.

[Ben Clarke]

"wow" what? You have a different opinion on the scientific advancement of Haitian society? Let's hear it. I'm not placing a value judgment on it.

Medication can be the last resort in some situations, but none of us really know anything about what's causing him to experience anxiety, so advice besides seeking the help of his parents and professionals is irresponsible.

[Munjibunga]

Originally Posted by Ben Clarke

You should be seeking treatment from a professional, not bass players.

SACRILEGE!

[HeadyVan Halen]

Originally Posted by Ben Clarke

"wow" what? You have a different opinion on the scientific advancement of Haitian society? Let's hear it. I'm not placing a value judgment on it.

Medication can be the last resort in some situations, but none of us really know anything about what's causing him to experience anxiety, so advice besides seeking the help of his parents and professionals is irresponsible.

The wow was that you think your opinion on his country is worth a sh!t or helpful in anyway....kinda like me saying 'New Yorkers think they're a little bit better than the rest of us'...yeah, something like that.

[Ben Clarke]

So you don't have a rebuttal other than to try to piss me off by insulting New Yorkers? Yay you.

Maybe you just missed the point. His mother is witholding his meds because of "a cultural thing". Perhaps some examination of that is in order, when the cultural root of it is based not in enlightenment or a better path, but ignorance and fear. Haiti's gotten raw deals over and over in its history, but that doesn't change the fact that it is a scientifically ummm.. "challenged" (is that better?) country.

Originally Posted by HeadyVan Halen

The wow was that you think your opinion on his country is worth a sh!t or helpful in anyway....kinda like me saying 'New Yorkers think they're a little bit better than the rest of us'...yeah, something like that.

[HeadyVan Halen]

I don't care what you call it. The point was, how is your opinion on Haiti helpful?

I just think it's 'very Northeastern' to give your thesis on a country's moral and societal compass when the kid is not asking for that.

Thanks for the entertainment. Filled up my lunch break.