RE: My Experience With Performance Anxiety
I also had an panic attack several years ago in upper secondary school when giving a presentation; at some point I just froze up when my mind was totally blank on what I was going to say. Then similar symptoms to yours appeared: shaky hands, heart rate increasing and anxiety takes over my mind. I actually still managed to go trough the rest of the presentation but my panic attack was still going on. And then after the presentation one of my class peers came to me and asked: "What happened to you?" It triggered me into a complete break down and I cryed like never before sitting on the school canteen table.
Luckily my situation was seen quickly and I was brought to a school curator and we went trough what just had happened after I cooled down.
Luckily, I haven't got any panic attacks since that day.
It's great you shared this with us for it will bring empowerement to you and for us too who relate with your situation.
I hope you will find remedy for your anxiety.
That was very well handled by your school! So you have not felt anxiety when performing since then? That is really great!
Thank you for reading and writing such a personal comment! I am glad that you enjoyed the post. And I will find remedy for my anxiety sooner or later, until then I will learn from it. 🙂
Yes, no such anxiety since then. I had some other stuff going on too causing insecurities that might have contributed to the attack. Of course there is still some normal excitment before an act but it always relieves when I get into it. I've even sang in front of high school (during lunch in the canteen though so it was quite casual event) when performing a song with a band. Though it makes me gringe a little when I realized how amateur I'm still at clean vocals but it was still some good performing experience :D
And I also sang in a choir during high school. It's a lower stress environment when performing since the spotlight isn't directly on anyone so I can recommend it as you are into singing as well if I remember correctly.
If you find a choir in your school feel free to give it a try.
That's great! :) Singing in a choir is actually a good tip! I used to sing a lot when I was younger and I have performed quite a bit through high school it's just in recent years that I have gotten more anxious about it. I can still sometimes perform without getting too nervous but sometimes I just can't control my nerves at all! And this time it was probably worse because it felt so personal.