Does anyone depend on drinking to have less anxiety?

No.I deal with any stress or anxiety through exercise and meditation.It works very well for me.
:)

Xanax helps call the nerves fairly well. You may wanna ask your doctor.

I’m afraid the only thing is to keep doing it, over and over again, until it becomes so familiar you aren’t nervous anymore. I always get so nervous playing in front of people my hands start shaking and I screw up, but a friend kept making me get up in front of people and eventually I forgot to be nervous. It sucks hardcore, but it’s worth it.

Drinking for that reason is a slippery slope….it will be sure to get worse and worse. Do what @efritz says….try to stay away from artificial means.

I am an artist and at show openings I deal with the exact same anxiety.

I do NOT recommend Xanax. It makes me groggy and takes off my creative edge.

A great method is to exercise (cardio) before to focus the mind and cut nervous energy.

I am not sure what or how much you are drinking but you can try ice water or cut down the amount you drink as you adapt to being the focus of attention until you are at water.

As @efritz mentions the more you do it the less anxiety you will feel.

Have you ever taken a speech class? I hated mine but it was required. What I brought out of that- as a person very uncomfortable in the limelight- was a new confidence. Public speaking and showing our creativity are really the same. Perhaps you could take a speech class at your local college. (if you are in high school go to the college so you are in a class of strangers)

Good luck- and you are right- your music and well being will suffer if you continue to drink to face the crowd.

Uh…thanks for that word, Dog! Gotta fix my question!

@963chris: Xanax is also highly addictive and so I would not recommend it. Even if a professional recommended it, I would say the patient should ask for an alternative. Maybe taking one on occasion might be ok, but i think of Xanax as a slippery slope.

I have a few glasses of wind at night to clear my mind, it helps me sleep, sometimes I drink wine during the day if I’m having a bad day. I think I’ll go have a glass of wine right now as a matter of fact, it’s noon! But creating an addiction to help your anxiety isn’t really helping anything at all.

I’m a singer and I always used to need one beer to settle the nerves before singing in public. No more than one, because too much makes me forget the words. >.< As the years went on and I got more confident, and realised that nothing horrible was going to happen if I made a mistake, I stopped being so nervous and now I don’t need even one. I know far too many musicians who’ve let the alcohol take over and ruin their career.

I am typically ahermit-type. I like to be alone watching movies and reading or spending time with my husband and my 5 kitties. When I do go out, I depend a lot on alcohol to keep me interested in socializing. It is hard to stay enthusiastic about being around people without something!

I am not a heavy drinker by any sense of the imagination, but I can always tell when I did not have a beer or a glass of wine the night before. I am just very tense.

I don’t drink a lot. I especially don’t drink for reasons like nerves, emotions or to get some type of high, BUT I recently got inspired by my wife’s hobby of community theater and landed a role with about a page and a half of lines. About two rehearsals before the opening night, I told my wife I just could not get a handle on my nerves. She said that some actors drink a small amount of alcohol before going on stage to calm nerves. Let me just say, it was a night and day result.