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The nervous tension felt before and during an ACLS class is commonly referred to as “stage fright” or “performance anxiety”. The medical term is glossophobia, one of the most common phobias.
So what is going on here? What makes my hands tremble, voice quiver and the almost complete loss of my brain function when I have to perform in front of people? The simple answer is a huge increase of catecholamines, the flight or fight hormone, in your blood stream. Part of your brain is so fearful of performing and being judged in front of others that your body reacts irrationally with this knee-jerk “flight or fight” response. Really the same response you would have waking up at night while sleeping out on a camping trip only to see a 500lb bear next to you. Unlike in a public performance, here the flight or fight response can be useful!!!!!
OK, Now what do we do to make this problem go away? Well actually you wouldn’t want it to go away completely because a little extra catecholamine in testing and performance situations is beneficial; makes your brain work a bit better. If you have been studying your ACLS and know that if excessive catecholamines(epinephrine) are the problem, there is a drug could you take to block the body’s response to the epinephrine? This drug is sometimes prescribed for this condition; I am not advocating taking it unless prescribed. The answer is, a Beta blocker such as Inderal. In some cases a doctor will prescribe this medication. Most of the time you don’t need Inderal because the following techniques work well.
Creative Visualization
Creative visualization is a way to overcome the fright of public speaking by adjusting your expectations of the performance experience. It is not a quick fix but something that needs to be practiced a bit and repeated a few times before your anxiety producing event. There are many good books on the subject you can pick up at the local bookstore or Amazon. The process is simple, get into a meditative mood and visualize the situation you will be in with good outcomes.
Meditation
If you are experienced with meditation then this will be quite familiar, if not then here is a basic approach to meditation. It’s very simple but surprisingly difficult for many of us. Medication is the process of focusing the mind on nothing….sounds easy well it takes a bit of practice. Sit in a quiet room, get comfortable, close your eyes and relax your body and mind. You don’t need to be a fancy guru here, just relax and try to think of nothing for about 5 minutes. There are many techniques used here, one of my favorites is to imagine an empty circle containing no thoughts. If you have not had training with this technique your mind will quickly wander to thoughts but take your mind gently by the hand back into that empty circle each time it wanders out. After about 5 minutes you’ll be in a focused state ready for some visualization.
Visualization
Visualize yourself in an anxiety producing situation, maybe a megacode. Tell yourself you feel relaxed and confident. Look at the others in the megacode and see support and love on each of their faces. Imagine conducting the megacode with confidence, being able to recall all the information you have studied. If your worst fear is “blanking out” in a situation, visualize “blanking out” and being ok with that situation for a few seconds and then regaining control and moving on.
Repetition
If you do this routine on a daily basis a few weeks before your anxiety event, I assure you your stress level will decrease dramatically. I have no psychological training beyond nursing but I do believe in the idea that “Repetition breeds Indifference” The visualization puts you in that anxiety provoking situation time and time again with good outcomes.
Good luck to you.
Rich Gilman RN.
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