PSYCH: STAGE FRIGHT AND THE ECHO OF TERROR

Good article on the number one anxiety problem; from a shrink buddy of mine.

STAGE FRIGHT AND THE ECHO OF TERROR

Selwyn Mills, PhD

The experience of public speaking produces anxiety from which none are immune. The degree of intensity may vary from person to person and the quality of apprehension may adjust to different situations but the presence of tension in exposing oneself to large groups seems to be unavoidable.

Why should this be? There appears to be no reason why delivering a prepared talk (usually on a subject the speaker is well versed in) before a group of people who have come to receive it would produce symptoms like shaky hands, rapid heart beat, mental disorientation and elevated blood pressure. Certainly, logic and reason on the conscious level does not support a bodily reaction of this force in response to a public address.

Many psychological theories have been advanced to explain "stage fright". Most allude to early childhood experiences with criticism and failure leading to feelings of inadequacy and shyness. While I would grant the contributory impact of these experiences in shaping the behavior of speech anxiety, my sense is that the major cause lies elsewhere.



There is a uniquely universal quality implicit in a single human being confronting a group of others. There is almost an immediate sense of estrangement, loneliness and anxiety ranging from mild to overpowering. In some, these feelings seem barely perceptible in others this experience assumes the character of overwhelming terror. This strange phenomenon requires analysis on two points. Why should this seemingly routine situation produce such powerful reactions and why does it differ from person to person? Man's early development usually takes place in the protected environment of interpersonal contact among parents and family, but his existential destiny is played out in the encounter with strangers. From school to job to establishing a family of his own, the individual is enmeshed in a contest with society for status, mastery, love and security. It is in this struggle filled with fear and risk-taking that man experiences the terror of defeat and the ecstasy of victory. Throughout man's history the individual who stood out from the group reaped the consequences of punishment or reward. Stoning, crucifying, shackling, hanging, exiling and imprisonment accrued to some; power, fame, wealth and adulation to others. Those who break the prevailing laws of society at the "wrong" time in the "wrong" place and with too little support are punished and those who operate in concert with time, place and power are rewarded. The early Christians were crucified by the Romans but a few centuries later were living in regal splendor. The rebel leader when captured is imprisoned and when in power does the imprisoning. The street brawler is condemned, the boxer exalted. The urban roof sniper draws condemnation, the war hero our admiration.

The psycho historical significance of this recurring theme of confrontation between man and the group cannot be overstated. When the individual acts to challenge the group homeostasis, he is at great risk. His anxiety arises from the stored unconscious memories of perilous experiences, but he nevertheless acts from impluse , instinct and subconscious motives. The most basic, enduring drive for survival is shared with all other living creatures although there is the tendency to believe that man is exempt from the biologically programmed behavior of the "lower" organisms.

Although our conduct is more complex and infinitely more disguised when filtered through the maze of societal and cultural structures, we nevertheless derive much of our behavior from our internalized survival strategies. Society is actually an extension of the human organism. Without it man ceases to be "human." that is why so much of our survival strategy is invested in the organization of the group or society.

The following metaphor can best illustrate how this phenomenon operates in the human equation. Let us see the ocean as a symbol of human evolution encompassing hundreds of thousands of years of struggling and experimenting with myriad variations of social forms of organization: always with the prime emphasis on perpetuating those forms which best ensure the future existence of the species. Now let us imbue the currents, which weave through the ocean with special archetypical qualities. These currents which serve the purpose of keeping the sea in constant motion perform a similar function for human evolution. Two of these prominent forces fit the polaric needs of the human journey. One represents the societal requirements for stability, security and maintaining the old forms. The other embodies the energies of challenge, risk-taking and change.

Each force plays its role, pursuing an independent course motivated by relentless drive while serving the unacknowledged needs of the whole. Driven by the time-validated equation for human survival these currents encode their message indelibly into the human unconscious. The security seekers are guardians of the existing forms of society and instinctively react to apparent threat by resistance and counterattack. The risk-takers are motivated by visionary quests and the need for novelty and excitement. These diverse currents run through all of us and will find varying degrees of expression depending on our circumstances, stage of life and psychological disposition. The group is by its very nature conservative even when the expressed purpose is revolutionary. The revolutionaries while opposing the establishment, enforce conformity within their own ranks, since every group thrives on stability. The group poses an intrinsic challenge to the individual: "conform or face our disapproval."

Risk-takers are fired by a passion for excitement. Whether the activity is fighting for human rights or armed robbery there is a motivation for action in the face of resistance. Risk-taking is an individual affair and always entails consequences. Sometimes the consequences are punishment, imprisonment,death. Sometimes the outcome is power and wealth. But it is this interplay between security-seekers and the risk-takers that keep the dynamic juices flowing in the arena known as the human condition. Security-seekers can become risk-takers and vise versa but the emotional content remains the property of the role. Security-seekers will assume the satisfactions of stability and risk-takers will derive pleasure from the excitement.

The complex flow of currents in the ocean of human evolution leave many unanswered questions, but the survival value derived from the interplay of security seeking and risk-taking is clearly evident.

Now, returning to the seeming innocuous subject of speech anxiety and how this presumptuous metaphor of ocean and currents applies. Presenting a talk on a non-controversial subject before a friendly audience should be a breeze. But is it? No! Every time an individual is contra posed to the group he experiences an elevation of his anxiety level. This anxiety is an unconscious awareness of the potential danger of standing out from the group. Centuries of evolutionary history have reinforced this notion. Therefore, it is not that astonishing to discover that there is a trigger reaction to the generalized experience of the individual facing a group. The risk-taker has an evolutionary legacy of punishment. Imprisonment and death on the one hand and reward wealth and power on the other. And so the stakes are high. Anxiety is to be expected. The routine activity of giving a speech is highly charged. It can conjure up unconscious fantasies of death by torture or the glories of tribute.

Although it is not the purpose of this article to deal with the immediate problem of overcoming the personal distress that comes from speech anxiety, there may be some benefit in acknowledging that survival strategies are sometimes generalized to the point of overkill.

The adrenaline flood that accompanies most individual/group encounters is unnecessary and personally distructive. Perhaps this is the price we pay for the incredible mechanism that protects our species but it need not inhibit our behavior if we acknowledge its function and readjust our consciousness.