Report: 30 percent of musicians uses beta-blockers

Written by Bram Heemskerk
Published: May 28, 2015 at 12:20 PM [UTC]

On Tuesday, the second day of the Queen Elisabeth competition finals, after the first candidate they show on the Belgian TV a movie of
psychiatrist and violinist Esther van Fenema, who has a musicpoliclinic for stage fright in Leiden, the Netherlands. It is the only clinic for musicians in the world and a lot of international musicians have found her.

Composer and conductor Dick Brossé told that some musicians were heavy drinkers to cope with the stress. Here Esther van Fenema gives a long interview in Dutch (you can translate it with google translate), but here a part of it translated with google translate:

Esther picks up some literature in. "In a US study over two thousand musicians have been questioned. Of those found to have stage fright 24 percent, 30 percent used beta-blockers, 17 percent were depressed, 13 percent had generalized anxiety symptoms and 70 percent of the musicians gave sometimes to experience stage fright. In short, in America, many musicians suffer from stage fright and other psychological problems. In the Netherlands this is undoubtedly the case. "

In the list we called the use of so called beta blockers. These are drugs that are prescribed generally to patients with cardiovascular disease. Beta-blockers also mask some uncomfortable physical manifestations of anxiety and stress, such as increased heart rate, sweating and trembling. So you can even if it were, you suppress it "nerves." "The use of beta-blockers can see especially in classical music," Esther says. "If there is seized in the light music for resources, then it is usually alcohol and drugs. Not that that helps the way, because the cure is worse than the disease. Excessive alcohol could actually lead to anxiety and depression. In addition, alcohol and drugs detrimental to your timing and motor skills, and eventually also for your health. That is not the solution for stage fright."

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