Anxiety about performing

[ebster]

Hi everyone,

I'm new here and have been suffering from anxiety for almost a year.

I have been performing on stage for as long as I can remember. I LOVE it. It has never made me anxious other than the normal nerves.

This weekend I auditioned for a major role and I have a feeling I'm going to get the part. For the first time ever, I'm terrified of getting the role! This morning I had a full out sob-fest thinking about "what if I get the part and I can't do it!? What if my anxiety takes over and I get out there and can't perform and run off stage!" etc etc etc. I imagined myself having to go to the director and say "Hey, thanks for the lead, but I can't do it. Give it to someone else."

I don't know if this is one of those cases where I should forge ahead and try to overcome the anxiety or if a role like this is just too much pressure for me to handle right now.

I HATE the fact that my anxiety is trying to take one more thing away from me!! Something I have been passionate about for my entire life! But the pressure of performing is causing me to panic.

Anyone else have this happen?

[Charmbracelet81]

I have worked at the same place for 10 years and it's always been comfortable and just like home, and if I were asked to work late or do extra projects, I was always up for it. Anxiety hit, and now work is just that WORK. I have panicked BEFORE even going to work, just wondering whats gonna happen, and will I panic and people look at me? Judge me? Think I'm nuts? It has gotten better now that I have been in CBT for almost a year, but I still get butterflies before I go there, I just have to replace those negative thoughts with ones that come from fact. But, yes, I know how you feel, I'm just not on stage ;)

[forwells]

Hi ebster :)

Anxiety is a hypo system . When we have anxiety everything that use to stress us will now feel 10 times worst . It is not so much us but is the way our body is reacting .

As you would know something such as this that would have giving you a little nerves is now going over board. It is only because your system is now reading this wrong . To get past it you need to just face it and do it anyway . Dont tell yourself that you cant do it by the what ifs . These whats ifs are only there for one reason and that is because your subconscious is trying to protect you from what it sees as danger . Your subconscious brain has no logic and will only do what it has learned and told to do . So instead of falling into the anxiety bluff you need to teach your subconscious that its reaction is not right and you can do it .

You know you can do it , you have many times before and will do many times again .

So when your tired over hypo brain starts with that what if rubbish , then say what if it happens , what is the worst , I have done it plenty of times before and can do it . IT IS ONLY TRYING TO TRICK YOU . I REPEAT THIS IS ONLY YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS MIND THAT HAS GOT SOMETHING INTO IT THE IS NOT CORRECT . Just the way mine tells me that i need to smoke . My logical part knows i dont but my subconscious mind will do anything and any trick it can to protect my body from what it sees as the pain from withdrawal.

What ever your subconscious sees as danger it will do everything and every trick to protect you from . That is its job . It is there to protect us from danger but sometimes it work wrong .

IF you need to go to your docts and get a beta blocker and these will stop the effects of anxiety while you are acting .

Do everything you can to stop it building as the longer it gos on that harder it is to bring it back .

Cheers and good luck kev :)