Nerves - What's actually happening

Now, one of the major problems nearly all performers must learn to contend with are the dreaded nerves. I know, from experience how daunting an audition may be. My throat tends to tighten up, robbing me of the ability to sing properly. I begin to shake uncontrollably, have butterflies in my stomach, and can’t even eat for most of the day - before and after the audition. Usually, these nerves hit me just before I enter the room though, and the longer I have to wait to go inside, the worse they get. But what is occurring inside our bodies to cause this reaction to what most musicians enjoy doing most?

I believe a scientific explanation of nerves is necessary to help understand what is actually occurring inside your body.

Nerves are a combination of both the physical and psychological aspects of the human body; feeling vulnerable, being afraid of making a mistake or in fear of looking foolish is part of what causes the shaking, the dry mouth, the tightening of the throat or forgotten lyrics, dance steps and lines. The way the physical body activates nerves is through our body producing too much adrenaline. Adrenaline can help us accomplish amazing feats. “Say if a bull was chasing you, and you had the choice of either escaping, or dying, the adrenaline coursing through your body would enable you to run at incredible speeds and then maybe even jump a five foot fence.” (Chris Murphy, Science Coordinator Marymount College) So when the adrenaline is being used up to escape something, you don’t feel nervous. Although, when you’re onstage, or in front of an audience, your brain is telling you you’re scared. It then tells your body to prepare for the flight response which releases adrenaline into your veins and then pumps it around your body. Of course, there is no real danger and therefore no need to accomplish incredible feats, so the symptoms you experience when nervous (eg. shaking, dry mouth, forgetfulness etc.) is your body’s response to an adrenaline overdose.

There are many ways to help compensate and or cure these nerves, so many that there isn’t enough time to cover them here. To compensate, I’ll deal with one from each area; performance, sporting and medical.