Stage Fright

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Waiting for the performance

Under stage fright is generally understood as the tension , the anxiety and stress before a public appearance before an exam or a dangerous task. It can affect the actor before the stage appearance, the performing artist , the musician , the examinee before an exam, the candidate before his interview, the athlete before a dangerous task or the soldier before the deployment.

Camera and microphone fear are closely related to stage fright. In an even broader sense, stage fright is also understood to mean the tension of a person who wants to perform a non-artistic performance in a situation in which he encounters increased social attention, e.g. B. in a presentation the possible fear of speaking , in a social event or in sports the so-called "pre-start fear". Because stage fright is inextricably linked with the expectation that the quality of this performance or appearance will be judged by the audience, the transition to test anxiety is fluid. This is especially true for participants in casting as well as professional artists who have to assert themselves against strong competition during their work.

In psychological research, “stage fright” brings together various forms of tension and fear of performance under the term performance anxiety . It can be seen as a subset of social anxiety disorders . In contrast, the profession-specific advice literature unanimously refers to "stage fright", whereby the authors usually differentiate between two different forms of stage fright: a "negative" stage fright ("stage fear", "podium fear", "pre-start fear"), which reduces the quality of performance, and a positive stage fright, which as eustress has an effect on performance.

phenomenon

Stress as physical and mental tension in the face of an imminent demanding task is a natural reaction developed in the course of evolution, the purpose of which was originally to help survive in a dangerous situation by the adrenal glands sending adrenaline and noradrenaline into the blood and the organism up Preparing to escape or fight.

Those affected often see the physical symptoms as the closest problem because they suffer directly from them. In terms of a psychotherapeutic approach, however, uncovering the mental cause of this fear is more productive, especially since there is no threat to life and health in an artistic performance.

According to Warwitz's system, stage fright is characterized as so-called “state fear”. This does not present itself as a continuous character trait, but only occurs as a temporary state of mind in certain situations in which an expectation stress builds up. As long as it has not become habitual, it does not count among the anxiety disorders that require treatment , but gains a positive function as a performance-enhancing factor that puts the person affected physically and mentally in an optimal starting position before a risk-taking . According to Warwitz, stage fright is to be seen as a not always pleasant, but useful reaction of the organism to adjust the physical, psychological and mental state of mind to cope with the task at hand. These include physiological changes such as increasing the adrenaline level or promoting blood flow to the brain and muscles as well as the associated increase in alertness, concentration or the ability to react and the activation of mental performance. Such stage fright-inducing situations arise before exams, before a public appearance as an actor, singer or speaker or before an exciting sporting activity such as a paraglider start or a bungee jump .

Clinical appearance

Stage fright manifests itself clinically as acute stress with typical symptoms such as palpitations, blushing, tremors, tension, irritability, physical and emotional anxiety, lack of concentration and forgetfulness. Since people react differently to stress, they also behave differently when it comes to stage fright. As the pianist and music theorist Charles Rosen has shown, stage fright and its symptoms are also similar to being in love . It has also been compared to cannon fever, a hypertensive excitement in the face of danger to soldiers in combat.

Complaints among musicians

Certain stress symptoms affect certain groups of artists more sensitively than others. The drying out of the mouth and throat, for example, the difficult swallowing and the shortened breathing span cause singers and wind players special problems. In the latter, the base of the mouth also changes under stress. With singers, the timbre and the resonance body can change, but this does not mean a reduction in the performance of the voice. With singers and actors, stage fright can weaken the voice and lead to text forgetfulness. If their hands get wet, pianists lose secure access to the keys. For many artists, the impairment of the muscles and sensory functions is even more problematic, as the quality of the work often depends to a large extent on the ability to control the fine motor skills. This applies, for example, to actors who cannot portray finely nuanced emotions with a face petrified with nervousness, but to an even greater extent to instrumentalists. The temporary impairment of the ability to e.g. B. Moving your fingers quickly and at the same time with millimeter accuracy is particularly devastating for strings. Strings have another problem when their bow hand trembles; however, the trembling of the hands affects the quality of the playing of many other instrumentalists as well. Soloists who play without notes suffer blackouts when excited and then sometimes get lost in the structure of a complex piece of music.

A little excitement before the performance is not only considered normal, but sometimes even cheap. As a "natural stimulant" it increases the artist's attention and is therefore beneficial to the quality of the presentation. Lectures that are too routine are considered boring. So far, however, there are no scientific studies that prove all of this. On the contrary, initial studies on the subject have even provided indications that musicians who contain their stage fright with beta blockers actually play technically better and more expressively than colleagues who do not take the corresponding medication - that the stress symptoms of fine motor performance described in the last paragraph Musician is rather detrimental.

Socio-phobic variant

If stage fright reoccurs with obvious physical symptoms, it can develop into a social phobia . This usually starts with the fact that following an unpleasant performance experience - which is actually part of everyday life on stage - there is a fear of being afraid. As a result, the expectation is developed before the next performance that the audience will again be shown an insufficient performance, which makes the audience appear almost hostile in the idea of ​​the person performing. These expectations mean that ambiguous feedback from the audience is more likely to be interpreted as negative and positive feedback is given less weight than negative. In this way, the negative view of one's own performance and thus the fear of performing is stabilized.

Many artists who can no longer free themselves from this spiral try to counteract the fear through the abuse of alcohol, tranquilizers or beta blockers . But these not only make you dependent, but also solidify the phobia , as they actually provide relief in the short term and those affected no longer try to help themselves on their own.

Chronic stage fright is particularly common among instrumentalists. Factors for this are the particularly unfavorable labor market and the ability of stress to influence the quality of the presentations. Instrumentalists - orchestral musicians even more than soloists - may also suffer particularly badly from stage fright because they usually sit still during their work and therefore cannot work off the adrenaline output with gross motor skills, as is the case with B. dancers or singers can do.

For humans as a social being, the evaluation by others is of great importance. The reason for the fear here is a feared devaluation by others, and that in a situation in which the artist is the focus of many attention. Correspondingly, the influence of these socially phobic thoughts on stage fright is greater when an artist performs solo than when performing in a group.

People who perform in front of an audience always run the risk of making mistakes and embarrassing themselves with them . Aspiring and self-established professional artists are under particular pressure, for whom failure - for example in the presence of a critic or a potential employer - not only calls into question their pride, but possibly also their professional future. Professional musicians are particularly afraid of their relentlessly critical colleagues in foreplay situations.

From a psychological point of view, regular stage fright is to be regarded as a non-generalized social phobia ; non-generalized means that the fear only occurs in one or a few similar and clearly defined social situations. However, this distinction is only made in the DSM-IV , not in the ICD-10 . Stangier and Fydrich separate the situations in which social phobias can occur according to performance and interaction situations (for example, having a conversation with strangers), with stage fright clearly being assigned to the first category. Because stage fright does not coincide with all potentially socially phobic situations, some researchers argue that it should not be viewed as part of social anxiety disorders, while others see it as a subgroup. This debate underscores the assumption that social anxiety ranks on a broad continuum between mild shyness and self-insecure-avoidant personality disorder .

Stage fright is closely related to the ability to grasp the impact other people's attention and social judgment have on oneself. Since this ability does not fully develop until around the age of 9 and 10, children up to this age usually have no stage fright. If some children are biased on stage at an early age, this may be due to shyness , but hardly the fear of making a fool of themselves. Some authors suspect that musical savants and people in the autism spectrum tend to be immune to stage fright because they have no doubts about their ability and are not very sensitive to the judgment of others; With regard to people with Asperger's Syndrome , however, it has also been suspected that they may be excited before appearances, but may not let this become visible through their body language, so that their stage fright is easily underestimated. So far, there are no reliable statements based on systematic research about stage fright among savants, and occasionally autistic people have also reported that their life, on the contrary, feels like permanent stage fright due to their social insecurity.

Dealing with stage fright

In the “field of fearful feelings”, Warwitz assigns stage fright to “forms of fear”. This means that the uncertainty arises from a relatively clearly recognizable reference to a specific threat situation. In contrast to diffuse fears, the triggers of which often remain in the dark, this in turn facilitates access and the use of suitable coping strategies:

In order to deal with the fearful situation “stage fright”, it is first important to positively perceive the changes associated with the tension and to accept them as useful and beneficial. Interventions are only necessary when stage fright grows into a block and thus a real anxiety disorder (speech block , decision block , action block ). A risk education beginning at an early age , which consciously and reflectively confronts and teaches how to deal with fear-inducing situations such as tests and tests of courage , usually prevents the development of excessive fears. But even fear tendencies that have already developed can be well controlled with suitable behavioral therapeutic methods.

Depending on the individual areas of life, dealing efficiently with stage fright can require very different methods:

Example stage artist

In general, artists have the opportunity to compensate for their stage fright not only with the joy of what they do, but also with the expectation of admiration and applause .

Today there is a wide range of measures that can be used to optimize stage fright. In the context of the increasing establishment of the subject music physiology and musicians' medicine, strategies and therapy models have been developed that are used at the musician medical centers. These include both self-reflective approaches, mental techniques and body-oriented approaches such as breathing and relaxation exercises. Methods such as the Alexander Technique and the Feldenkrais Method also form a good basis for the performance situation. Many artists use the mental performance training in which they z. B. intensively visualize the performance situation mentally. Artists suffering from chronically insurmountable stage fright are often inappropriately and stubbornly preoccupied with memories of a traumatic stage experience. In these cases, it can be assumed that there is a fear of performance, which requires specialist therapeutic treatment.

Since stage performers and musicians regularly have to wait before a performance, stage fright is particularly felt at these moments. It then disappears to the same extent that the work demands attention from the artist. Since the adrenaline rush naturally only lasts for a short time, people who suffer from severe stage fright cope better with long performances than with very short ones, where they don't have time to distract themselves through work and calm down again. Delaying the start of a lecture can give a nervous musician time to collect himself again, for example by tuning the instrument again or fiddling with the notes. For the same reason, virtuoso pieces are usually only played at the end of a concert.

Although many artists still suffer from severe stage fright even after decades of professional experience - famous examples are Frédéric Chopin , Enrico Caruso , Pablo Casals , Vladimir Horowitz , Laurence Olivier , Heinz Erhardt , Maria Callas , John Lennon , Meryl Streep and Robbie Williams  - it is routine as the strongest antidote. However, it is important that the routine consists of predominantly positive performance experiences. In music education in particular, this must be observed when promoting children and young people. The representatives of the Suzuki method , for example, take this into account by promoting the public appearance of violin students from an early age. As they grow up, like everyone else, children will be susceptible to stage fright, but if they have gained a lot of stage experience at an early age, they will already master all of the techniques that are needed to move safely on a stage.

Many artists try to banish their stage fright with individual rituals . Enrico Caruso z. B. underwent a stereotypically choreographed procedure of brushing teeth, gargling, drinking and eating before each performance. Cultural rituals are even more common; In the German-speaking world, stage performers wish to have “ Toi, toi, toi ” or “ broken neck and leg ” before appearing , in France they say “ Merde ” (meaning “good luck”) and in Italy “In bocca al lupo” ( "Into the mouth of the wolf" = "good luck").

Dealing with stage fright has undergone a lasting positive change in the interests of prevention through the establishment of the subject music physiology and musician's medicine at the universities of music in Germany. At most German music colleges, students receive performance training in preparation for their professional life, during which they are taught measures to deal with stage fright in a positive way. Most of the centers and resident therapists active in the field of prevention, research and treatment of stage fright and fear of performance are united in the German Society for Music Physiology and Musicians' Medicine (DGfMM). Some of the institutions for musicians' medicine in Germany have been focusing on research, teaching and patient treatment for around ten years (e.g. Berlin) on the subject of stage fright and performance anxiety.

The Freiburg Institute for Performing Arts Medicine has developed a specific multimodal therapy model for the treatment of performance anxiety since its inception in the year of 2005. In addition to the consultation hours for instrumentalists, the Freiburg institute also specializes in voice treatment, so that not only instrumentalists and singers but also actors are treated in an interdisciplinary manner. The multimodal treatment model integrates different therapeutic approaches - depth psychology and behavioral therapy, body-oriented and mental - with practical stage and musical content and exercises.

Some therapists see chronic stage fright, in which one is more afraid of stage fright itself than of possible failures, exclusively as a learned behavior that one can get rid of through suitable training with a suitably qualified therapist or coach . The stage fright outpatient clinic set up in 2010 at the Psychiatric Clinic of the Bonn University Hospital , which is particularly geared to the needs of musicians, works according to this concept .

Example exam

Exam anxiety is, in many cases, based on a lack of exam experience and proficiency in efficient management. This can be countered naturally through frequent confrontation with exam situations of all kinds such as competitions, competitions or tests of courage and a systematic organization of exams.

If the exam situation becomes a frequently avoided and therefore rare exception requirement, ie if there is no learning of appropriate exam management, short-term measures such as relaxation techniques and behavioral aids must intervene.

Example sporting risk

Because of its uncertain outcome and its often serious health risk in the run-up to the event, the sporting risk puts the performer on a nervous stress test. This psychological tension can show itself to the paraglider either when approaching the take-off site or only during the immediate preparations for take-off (laying out the glider, postponing take-off decision, etc.). As a rule, the state of excitement dissipates when the take-off run is successful and the pilot is safely in the air. The liberating relaxation is often audible for observers in a cheer. Consistent risk education in as many areas of life as possible from early childhood, solid training in the risky sport and a lot of practical experience have proven to be the most efficient preparation for practicing risk management and learning to deal appropriately with insecurities and threats in sport.

Cultural comparison

In English, stage fright means stage fright ("stage fear", "stage fear"). The positive connotation of the term stage fright (excited tingling sensation, joyful expectation of success) given in German is missing here. The word fright has a number of film artists to the contrary horror films entitled Stage Fright inspired, in those murdered on stage (eg. Fright of Alfred Hitchcock ), whereby the fear of the actors before the show a new interpretation receives.

literature

General

  • Michael Bohne: Knocking against stage fright. Speak, perform, present confidently. Practical energetic psychology. Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-499-62372-1 .
  • Detlef Bührer: 30 minutes against stage fright. Gabal, Offenbach 2009, ISBN 978-3-89749-931-7 .
  • Helga Knigge-Illner: Conquering exam anxiety: How to master challenges with confidence. Campus, Frankfurt am Main 2010.
  • Heinz W. Krohne: Fear and coping with fear. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-17-013039-0 .
  • Franz Ruchti: Help is threatening a speech. BoD, Norderstedt 2010, ISBN 978-3-8391-5385-7 .
  • Claudia Spahn : Stage fright. Basics. Analysis. Activities. Henschel, Leipzig 2012, ISBN 978-3-89487-706-4 .
  • Irmtraud Tarr : Stage fright: cause. Effect. Therapy. 4th edition, Kreuz, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-7831-1226-5 .
  • Siegbert A. Warwitz: Forms of fear behavior. In: ders .: Search for meaning in risk. Life in growing rings. 2., ext. Ed. Verlag Schneider, Baltmannsweiler 2016, ISBN 978-3-8340-1620-1 .
  • Siegbert A. Warwitz: Avoid fear - seek fear - learn to fear . In: Ding-Wort-Zahl 112 (2010), pp. 10–15.

performing Arts

  • Ariadna Ortiz Brugués: Music Performance Anxiety. A Review of Literature. Freiburg 2009.
  • Horst Hildebrandt: Music studies and health. Structure and effectiveness of preventive courses. 2nd Edition. Peter Lang, Bern 2002, ISBN 978-3-03910-407-9 .
  • Gerhard Mantel : Courage for stage fright. Mental strategies for musicians to cope with performance and exam anxiety. Schott, Mainz 2008.
  • Adina Mornell: Stage fright and fear among performing musicians. Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 2002, ISBN 978-3-631-39744-2 .
  • Michael Shurtleff : Audition. Everything an Actor Needs to Know to Get the Part. Walker, New York 1978.
    • German edition: Successful audition. From the American by Petra Schreyer. With an introduction by Keith Johnstone and a foreword by Bob Fosse. Alexander, Berlin 1999, 5th edition 2009, ISBN 978-3-89581-044-2 .
  • Claudia Spahn: Appearance fear. Freiburg multimodal treatment model. In: Claudia Spahn, Bernhard Richter , Eckart Altenmüller : Musicians Medicine. Diagnosis, therapy and prevention of music-specific diseases. Schattauer, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 3-7945-2634-1 , pp. 149-167.
  • Werner Merzig. Martin Schuster: Exam anxiety and stage fright. Prepare and master assessment situations. Springer Verlag, 2009, ISBN 978-3-540-92753-2 .

Web links

Wiktionary: Stage fright  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Stuart Wallace Hyde: Television and radio announcing . Houghton Mifflin, 1998. Alan R. Stephenson, David E. Reese, Mary E. Beadle: Broadcast Announcing Worktext: Performing for Radio, Television, and Cable . Focal Press, 2005, ISBN 0-240-80569-0 , p. 27
  2. Tingling and stage fright before the start of the World Cup . sportschau.de; Waltraud Witte: Figure skating basics . 2nd Edition. Meyer & Meyer, Aachen 2009, ISBN 978-3-89899-331-9 , p. 159
  3. a b c Ulrich Stangier, Thomas Fydrich: The disorder concept of social phobia and social anxiety disorder . In: Ulrich Stangier, Thomas Fydrich (Ed.): Social phobia and social anxiety disorder . Hogrefe, 2002, pp. 10-33
  4. Andreas Hoffstadt: Language of the winners: How to appear confidently and convincingly in all speech situations . Druck & Verlagshaus Mainz, Aachen 2006, p. 74.
  5. Stage fright and fear of performance are not the same thing!
  6. Why do we get stage fright? ; Stage fright, beta blockers and artistry
  7. Pocket Guide to the ICD-10 Classification of Mental Disorders; Ed .: Horst Dilling & Harald J. Freiberger. 4th edition, Verlag Hans Huber, 2008. p. 159
  8. ^ A b Siegbert A. Warwitz: The field of fearful feelings . In: Ders .: Search for meaning in risk. Life in growing rings . 2., ext. Ed., Verlag Schneider, Baltmannsweiler 2016, ISBN 978-3-8340-1620-1 , pp. 36–37
  9. ^ A b Charles Rosen: Stage fright Lettre International 79, winter 2007.
  10. ^ Adolf Winds: From the actor's workshop . Erwin Haendcke, Dresden 1903, p. 169. Im Kanonenfieber . Welt online , November 18, 2001
  11. ^ Gerhard Böhme: Speech, speech, voice and swallowing disorders , Volume 1: Clinic . Urban and Fischer, 4th edition, 2003, ISBN 3-437-46950-9 , p. 237
  12. Stage fright movie-college.de
  13. a b c Bonn: University Clinic founds stage fright ambulance for musicians. ( Memento of August 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive ); Stage fright in musicians is curable ; The fear of failure ; Trembling before the big entrance
  14. ^ Gustav Vogt: Successful rhetoric: fair and unfair behavior in speech and conversation . 3. Edition. Oldenbourg, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-486-59737-0 , p. 208. Claus Derra: Stress management - a cornerstone of health education today . In: Hans-Joachim Pusch, Ilona Biendarra (Hrsg.): Health Education in the Life Course : Understanding - Informing - Implementing . Würzburg 2006, ISBN 3-8260-3316-7 , pp. 67–78 (p. 73)
  15. a b It's hell . In: Die Zeit , No. 15/2009
  16. Stage fright, beta blockers and artistry
  17. How to overcome stage fright Die Zeit, May 21, 2010
  18. When the audience becomes the enemy Die Zeit; Beethoven focus on beta blockers ; Musician on beta blocker taz
  19. a b c Dealing with stage fright
  20. Cox, WJ, Kenardy, J. Performance Anxiety, Social Phobia, and Setting Effects in Instrumental Music Students . Journal of Anxiety Disorders. Vol. 7, 1993. p. 54
  21. Irmtraud Tarr: Stage fright - Being strong under stress , Herder, 2009, ISBN 978-3-451-29948-3
  22. ^ S. Gorges, GW Alpers, P. Pauli: Musical performance anxiety as a form of social anxiety? International Symposium on Performance Science, 2007. pp. 1f. legacyweb.rcm.ac.uk ( Memento from March 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 87 kB)
  23. Hanna Maria Beißert: Leisure interests using the example of sporting and musical leisure activities in highly gifted and non-gifted children in comparison . Master's thesis, GRIN / Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2008, ISBN 978-3-640-55112-5 , p. 50
  24. ^ Leon K. Miller: Musical savants: Exceptional Skill in the Mentally Retarded . Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsdale 1989, ISBN 0-8058-0034-4 , p. 170; Joanne Haroutounian: Kindling the Spark: Recognizing and Developing Musical Talent . Oxford University Press, 2002, ISBN 0-19-512948-2 , p. 105. Linda J. Baker, Lawrence A. Welkowitz (Eds.): Asperger's syndrome: Intervening in Schools, Clinics, and Communities . Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah 2008, ISBN 0-8058-4570-4 , p. 23
  25. Tony Attwood: The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome . Jessica Kingsley, London / Philadelphia 2007, ISBN 978-1-84310-669-2 , p. 121
  26. For example, Tempel Grandin, Margaret M. Scariano: Emergence: Labeled Autistic . Arena, 1986, ISBN 0-87879-524-3
  27. ^ A b Siegbert A. Warwitz: Avoiding Fear - Searching for Fear - Learning to Fear . In: Case-Word-Number 112 (2010) pages 10-15
  28. a b Helga Knigge-Illner: Conquering exam anxiety: How to master challenges with confidence. Campus-Verlag 2010
  29. ^ A b Siegbert A. Warwitz: Optimal examination organization and handling of examiner errors , In: Ders .: Lecture series on experimental sport psychology , scripts of the Karlsruhe University of Education 1995 - 2002
  30. Marion Hermann-Röttgen , Erhard Miethe: Our voice . 2nd Edition. Schulz-Kirchner, Idstein 2006, ISBN 978-3-8248-0356-9 , p. 109
  31. C. Spahn: Stage fright. Basics. Analysis. Measures . Henschel-Verlag, 2012
  32. C. Spahn, B. Richter, E. Altenmüller: Musicians Medicine. Diagnosis, therapy and prevention of music-specific diseases . Schattauer-Verlag, 2011
  33. Werner J. Gartner: Management . Oldenbourg, 2002, ISBN 3-486-25937-7 , p. 192. Manual Soft Skills . Volume III: Methodological Competence. vdf Hochschulverlag, 2004, ISBN 3-7281-2880-5 ; "Learn to relax"
  34. Olivia Rohr, Renate Wehner: The FM Alexander technique . In: Elisabeth Exner-Grave: TanzMedizin. Medical care for professional dancers . Schattauer, 2008, ISBN 978-3-7945-2562-1 , pp. 132ff
  35. Franz Ruchti: Help! A speech threatens. 10 tried and tested strategies against stage fright . Books on Demand, 2010, ISBN 978-3-8391-5385-7 . Werner Metzig, Martin Schuster: Exam anxiety and stage fright . Springer, 2006, ISBN 3-540-28357-9 ; How To Overcome Stage Fright
  36. Werner Metzig, Martin Schuster: Examination anxiety and stage fright , Springer, 2006, ISBN 3-540-28357-9 ; Living Legend Barbra Streisand
  37. Peter Ebeling: Notebook Talking Without Stage Fright , 2010. What works best against stage fright . In: Welt online , October 30, 2010
  38. ^ Proceedings of the 1983 Piano Pedagogy Seminar on Intermediate Piano Repertoire: Styles and Technics . University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Department of Music, 1983
  39. ^ Christian Springer: Enrico Caruso: Tenor der Moderne . Holzhausen, 2002, ISBN 3-85493-063-1 , p. 137
  40. ^ Charles Rosen: Stage fright Lettre International; The articles Theatrical superstitions in the English language Wikipedia and Superstition théâtrale in the French language Wikipedia offer further interesting information
  41. C. Spahn: Psychosomatic Medicine . In: Claudia Spahn, Bernhard Richter, Eckart Altenmüller: Musicians Medicine. Diagnosis, therapy and prevention of music-specific diseases . Schattauer-Verlag, 2011