Sweaty Dancing
Duane and I started Tango classes last year in September. Its pretty darn hot here in Atlanta in September and I was always drenched by halfway through the class. I guess I thought everyone was sweating and I was just sweating a bit more. Then over the next couple of months I quit sweating so much in my classes after all, it was getting cooler. Strange thing was that it still happened some times like at Milongas, sometimes I would get really sweaty and by then it was Winter and other people even had on long sleeves and were not sweating. Whoa, somethings wrong here. I guess I figured that I was just a sweater. And since it didn’t happen all the time anymore I figured my condition was getting better. Then down in Buenos Aires, I was sweating again. It was their fall and I just chalked it up to the increased humidity and I just got in the habit of bringing a second tee shirt to change into.
Then on the plane back to Atlanta, I read an article by a guy who talked about playing golf on a really hard course in order to test the benefits of using a blocker to manage his anxiety. He said that he felt he really played much better with it and figured that’s how the pros look so calm and cool. Then the light bulb over my head lit up and I realized that I was having ANXIETY!
Now remember that I have a Ph.D in psychology. You would think I would know if I were anxious. But, it explained everything. Back in the fall, I got more confident in the class situation so I didn’t sweat as much, but at Milongas I had to dance with people that I didn’t know very well and so it was more like the feeling when I was just starting out. I can’t believe this is anxiety.
So, I called my doctor, Harry D and told him about my situation and he said, “Yes, Propranolol was often used to decrease the autonomic reactions of performance anxiety! Ookay, I am testing the theory this weekend at the Tango festival and will let you know what happens. It could be worse though.
When doing some on-line research about Propranolol, I found a blog post about dancing anxiety by an 18 and a half year old boy, Oh yea, it really could be worse. I could be 18 again.
