Overcoming Stage Fright With Homeopathy
My blogging friend, Janet Kidd, has recently written about stage fright, and how to deal with it as a singer. I’d like to add some homeopathic remedies into the mix of her suggestions for helping with stage fright. For some patients, we’ll not only give them these remedies for when they do public speaking or performing, but also for generalized anxiety issues which paralyze them in their life generally. This is a good case study, by the way, of the importance of treating the unique qualities of a given condition, rather than matching a pharmaceutical drug to a generic label (such as “stage fright” in this case).
- Gelsemium – “Frozen in fear”; A tendency to “freeze up” on stage, or in life situations in general. The mind which goes blank in an exam or interview situation. Involuntary responses, such as trembling, or frequent loose stools or urination. Feeling a tremendous anxiety in anticipation of an event. A defensive posture of tiredness or droopiness. This is usually more of a tendency for introverted types.
- Argentum Nitricum – A nervousness which expresses itself with fidgety and strange or impulsive behaviours. Excessive talkativeness as a defensive posture. Enactment of superstitions or ritualistic behaviours are used to try to dispel the nervousness. Distorted sense of time, and usually tends towards feeling that it is going by too fast. The Argentum Nitricum subject generally feels better when other people are around (the classic extrovert response). Experiencing bizarre thoughts or perceptions.
- Aconite – Primarily used to treat a state of shock, but also for the type of anxiety which mimics this. The intense and sudden symptoms of panic attacks are addressed by this remedy, including shortness of breath. The feeling that their death is near – this may explain the statistic that people are more afraid of public speaking than they are of death. An extremely restless state of mind. Especially suited for anxiety symptoms that come on quite rapidly and intensely, like a storm that seems to appear out of nowhere.
- Ignatia – Over-sensitivity of emotions, with a tendency to expect to be disappointed. Feeling emotionally vulnerable in front of people, with a desire to run away and hide. The root of this anxiety is generally connected to some form of unresolved grief. A sensation of a physical lump in the throat can get in the way of speaking or singing. Frequent involuntary sighing or yawning. May be linked with physical symptoms of headaches, or lots of sweat on the face.
Choosing the remedy, or combination of remedies which best match your symptoms can work remarkably well to help you through a performance or public speaking event. Over the longer term, the deeper process of Heilkunst treatment will remove the underlying factors which create this tendency towards stage fright, and eventually the remedies won’t be required any more, as you claim more and more of a natural state of biological and psychological functioning. There will be any number of deeper factors contributing to such triggered responses of stage fright which can be transmuted through depth treatment. Common wisdom would suggest that stage fright is “just the way someone is”, but is not a natural state in itself, and is entirely reversable through treatment.