Saturday 11 February 2012

The Symptoms.

So what really happens when we have stage fright? Well, there are obvious physical and chemical manifestations. Our bodies react to excitement or fear and adrenaline is pumped into our bloodstream in order to help us cope. 


Adrenaline is also know as Epinephrine,  it is a hormone used by our bodies in a high stress situations to give us that burst of energy, when we have the "fight or flight" response.This is also called adrenaline rush which can cause our body to experience side effects such as:
  •  
  • shaking, trembling, 
  • vomiting and 
  • shortness of breath.
  • accelerated heartbeat
  • cold sweats/stomach pain
This gives us an insight of why our bodies respond the way they do when we are having theses uncomfortable feelings. But everyone's experience is different. Some might feel more severe symptoms than others. They might feel like the room is closing in on them, the throat may tighten making it harder to breath, the heart can sometimes race to the point of making them believe that they are  having a heart attack. In extreme cases they may freeze and be unable to speak. "The human brain starts working the moment you are born and never stops, until you stand up to speak in public."--George Jessel. 


We are all born with the fear of heights and loud noises. The rest is what we learn in the course of our lives.  These fears are learned from experiences. Have you ever experienced stage fright? What effects do you feel when you are in a unique situation like that?


Reference:


Fear-of-Publicspeaking.net. (n.d). Causes of Stage Fright. Retrieved from http://www.fear-of-publicspeaking.net/stage-fright.html