Performance anxiety in musicians

An article by german psychologists from Dresden cover the topic ofPerformance anxiety in gifted adolescent musicians. Many musicians stick to rituals like cleaning the instrument, eating chocolate or walking in cirlcle. Only few of them used alcohol or other calming substance to reduce anxiety. Cognitive strategies to cope with this stress were also described and included positive cognitions or thinking of success with their performance. Praying was employed by about 55 % of the sample and was regarded to be highly effective in this situation. Only a small number (18.4) of the students tried relaxation techniques.

The musicians were seeking more help to optimize their situation. The best option would be to include some stress management like relaxation strategies in their regular instrumental lessons. This might be a good prevention for severe anxiety problems related to social anxiety problems later on.

anxiety
Performance anxiety