By Chuffy - 04/11/2012 07:28 - United States - Fort Collins

Today, to help me get over my crippling social anxiety, my therapist encouraged me to sing in front of a crowd, since I actually have a fine singing voice. I ended up fainting onstage, mid-song. FML
I agree, your life sucks 25 243
You deserved it 2 311

Same thing different taste

Top comments

Screw that! You actually got onstage and started singing. I'd say that's making progress! Congrats, I wish you the best of luck.

I'm sorry OP, that really sucks :( Perhaps starting small would be a better idea, sing to your family, then to your friends, and work your way up, until you've joined a band or something :)

Comments

Did u lock ur knees? Or drink/eat milk products before? If so that's why u fainted.

OP fainted because of their fear ... Hence the SA-having part of the story .

Actually, #51 I bet it wasn't *just* out of fear. Fear and anxiety can cause people to lock their knees when they're in front of people, and locking one's knees cuts off the flow of blood to parts of the body crucial to remaining conscious. So if OP had a tremendous amount of fear, she probably locked her knees, and thus in turn lost consciousness. You are correct then, by saying she collapsed from her fear, but most likely, and unless OP states otherwise in a follow up, it was that fear that caused her to lock up her knees. So that would make #46 correct as well.

Milk products just make it harder to sing. They don't make you faint. I do agree that OP might have locked her knees and that contributed to her fainting, though.

Yeah... you don't drink milk or eat dairy before a performance because dairy makes you produce more mucus in your throat making it harder to sound good while singing. It doesn't make you faint. It is very possible that she locked her knees, though.

At least you were brave enough to go up there OP

The fact you even got on stage and words came out is AMAZING. Just try again (:

perdix 29

You should have tried something easier, like stand-up comedy. Audiences are there just to boost the self-esteem of the comedian on-stage. There's a widely used medication out there that has been used to cure social anxiety for millennia, and you don't need some crackpot therapist to prescribe it for you. It's called alcohol. Cheers!

actually that singing experience was good for you. it doesn't matter if it was good or bad. you learn from it, and it helps you step outside your comfort zone. keep up the good work! :-)

You did more than I could have done! Kudos to you OP!!

I completely understand how you feel, OP. I suffer from bad social anxiety, and it's not one of those things you can just 'get over'. I think you ought to have started with baby steps first, though. Start by singing to family, then friends, then gradually increase the number of people? You did extremely well. You ought to be proud of yourself.

Small groups of people usually freak people out more. At least, that's how it is for me. I know everyone is staring at me in a small group of people, making it harder to ignore them and concentrate on the song. But if I'm onstage, with a large crowd watching me, it's easier to not focus on specific people because there are so many of them. I'm sorry if this doesn't come out right ... it made more sense in my head.

I get what you mean, there. For me, it's pretty much just people in general - if there's a lone person, or a group of people, or a large amount. I don't think it'd be a good idea to jump into a large crowd, though. Maybe OP could start by having objects between the audience (like a curtain), then having them turn around, and then face her? That's what would work for me, but I know that everyone's different.

Razi_tail 25

It sounds like your therapist pushed you too fast. Things like anxieties and phobias should be slowly desensitized.

ellytoad 13

See? People CAN faint during an anxiety attack! I get so annoyed when I read that it's impossible.