Today, to help me get over my crippling social anxiety, my therapist encouraged me to sing in front of a crowd, since I actually have a fine singing voice. I ended up fainting onstage, mid-song. FML
Collection
Halloween
A failed costume, stolen candy and a very real scare: Halloween, the one night when fear is allowed.
Today, I worked up the courage to sing at an open mic night. I lost my cool halfway through because all I could hear was laughter. FML
Today, I went to a karaoke bar that my girlfriend works at. I'm a halfway decent singer, so I picked out a song we both liked and decided to give it a go. Halfway through the song I sneezed, tripped, fell off the stage and knocked myself out in front of my girlfriend and fifty bar patrons. FML
Today, I overcame my stage fright and got up in front of a café audience with my acoustic guitar to sing a few of my songs. Some asshat kept yelling stuff like "NEEDS MORE COWBELL!" and "FREEBIRD!", which made me lose my nerve and flee. FML
Today, I had my first concert and was really anxious about screwing up my performance. Good news: I played fine. Bad news: as I walked off the stage, I tripped over my own feet, face-planted the floor, and busted my nose open. FML
Today, my roommate eavesdropped on me singing. When I realized he was there, he said I was "fucking incredible" and asked me to do another song. There's just one issue: I only sing well when I'm alone. The result was predictably bad. If it was possible to literally die of embarrassment, I wouldn't be writing this. FML
Today, I was performing for a fairly large crowd with my band. I decided it would look cool to stand on one of the speakers and sing from there. It did look pretty cool for a bit until I tried to step off and fell face-first on the floor mid-song. FML
Today, I gathered the courage to sing karaoke after saying no for years. The lyrics screen froze halfway through the song, and everyone expected me to keep going from memory since I picked it. It turns out I only knew the chorus. I hummed for an entire verse as bemused strangers politely clapped along. FML
Today, I was auditioning for a talent show. I asked my girlfriend if I could sing to her before I went. She said sure. Thirty seconds in, she got up and mumbled, "You're only going to embarrass yourself." FML
Today, while I was singing a song with my guitar at a college open mic, my eyes started to burn, causing me to tear up and stop playing. Everyone in the audience thought I'd actually started to cry mid-performance. I ended up having to leave the stage teary-eyed and embarrassed myself in front of everyone. FML
Today, during an important music audition, I fudged everything up and forgot half the lyrics of the song I was performing, so I just sort of tailed off into embarrassed silence on stage. It was an original song, I wrote the lyrics myself. All the lady could say was, "Good luck next year, dear." FML
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Top comments
yogima 6
Screw that! You actually got onstage and started singing. I'd say that's making progress! Congrats, I wish you the best of luck.
Demonfish 14
I'm sorry OP, that really sucks :( Perhaps starting small would be a better idea, sing to your family, then to your friends, and work your way up, until you've joined a band or something :)
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Comments (97)
jep00 8
Did u lock ur knees? Or drink/eat milk products before? If so that's why u fainted.
dijafe27 6
OP fainted because of their fear ... Hence the SA-having part of the story .
UsagiArwen 23
Actually, #51 I bet it wasn't *just* out of fear. Fear and anxiety can cause people to lock their knees when they're in front of people, and locking one's knees cuts off the flow of blood to parts of the body crucial to remaining conscious. So if OP had a tremendous amount of fear, she probably locked her knees, and thus in turn lost consciousness. You are correct then, by saying she collapsed from her fear, but most likely, and unless OP states otherwise in a follow up, it was that fear that caused her to lock up her knees. So that would make #46 correct as well.
melody309 35
Milk products just make it harder to sing. They don't make you faint. I do agree that OP might have locked her knees and that contributed to her fainting, though.
TheMathMajor 26
Yeah... you don't drink milk or eat dairy before a performance because dairy makes you produce more mucus in your throat making it harder to sound good while singing. It doesn't make you faint. It is very possible that she locked her knees, though.
maddygirl820 10
At least you were brave enough to go up there OP
dijafe27 6
The fact you even got on stage and words came out is AMAZING. Just try again (:
perdix 31
You should have tried something easier, like stand-up comedy. Audiences are there just to boost the self-esteem of the comedian on-stage. There's a widely used medication out there that has been used to cure social anxiety for millennia, and you don't need some crackpot therapist to prescribe it for you. It's called alcohol. Cheers!
DogStew 20
actually that singing experience was good for you. it doesn't matter if it was good or bad. you learn from it, and it helps you step outside your comfort zone. keep up the good work! :-)
emh86 14
You did more than I could have done! Kudos to you OP!!
BreathlessInk 15
I completely understand how you feel, OP. I suffer from bad social anxiety, and it's not one of those things you can just 'get over'. I think you ought to have started with baby steps first, though. Start by singing to family, then friends, then gradually increase the number of people? You did extremely well. You ought to be proud of yourself.
melody309 35
Small groups of people usually freak people out more. At least, that's how it is for me. I know everyone is staring at me in a small group of people, making it harder to ignore them and concentrate on the song. But if I'm onstage, with a large crowd watching me, it's easier to not focus on specific people because there are so many of them. I'm sorry if this doesn't come out right ... it made more sense in my head.
BreathlessInk 15
I get what you mean, there. For me, it's pretty much just people in general - if there's a lone person, or a group of people, or a large amount. I don't think it'd be a good idea to jump into a large crowd, though. Maybe OP could start by having objects between the audience (like a curtain), then having them turn around, and then face her? That's what would work for me, but I know that everyone's different.
BananerzFresh 12
Smaller steps next time?
Razi_tail 25
It sounds like your therapist pushed you too fast. Things like anxieties and phobias should be slowly desensitized.
ellytoad 13
See? People CAN faint during an anxiety attack! I get so annoyed when I read that it's impossible.