I know this because I know of medical students taking it before giving a speech. Literally the medicine is well known for making you perfectly calm.
You know that magic pill that can get rid of your approach anxiety? I hear, this is it, though I never tried. I'm wondering if anyone more in the "know" can comment on it.
You're referring to beta blockers, which can reduce the stress response in your sympathetic nervous system.
> Literally the medicine is well known for making you perfectly calm.
> You know that magic pill that can get rid of your approach anxiety? I hear, this is it,
They're not magic. They won't make you perfectly calm and they won't magically rid you of different types of anxiety. Beta blockers are used in mild cases to help tip the scales toward calm, but they won't cure major anxiety or make you superhumanly calm.
Like any medication, it's best used as a combination treatment approach with therapy and other interventions. As always, refer to a doctor for a proper treatment plan, never try to self medicate with prescription medications.
So yes, while beta blockers can help, they are no panacea.
BLUF (bottom line up front):
Try biofeedback to regulate level of emotional arousal before an anticipated stressor or critical decision or event.
COMMENTARY
You may be referring to “Propranolol”
“Propranolol is occasionally used to treat performance anxiety... benefits appear similar to benzodiazepines in panic disorder with potentially less side effects such as addiction. Experimentation has been conducted in other psychiatric areas... Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and specific phobias...”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propranolol
It is a beta blocker:
”Beta blockers (beta-blockers, β-blockers, etc.) are a class of medications that are predominantly used to manage abnormal heart rhythms... also widely used to treat high blood pressure (hypertension), although they are no longer the first choice...“
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_blocker
HYPOTHESIS
When taken before something like a Ted Talk, perhaps what’s happening is pre-treatment of not anxiety but indicative symptoms of anxiety, damping your biofeedback signals.
Perhaps it’s not doing anything direct for your anxiety, rather damping the racing heartbeat and increased blood pressure you usually experience in anticipation of stress (PTSD style association), and without that biofeedback sensor, your metacognition of anxiety doesn’t ramp up as much.
No citations, pure anecdata from 5 years in hedge fund sector.
CONTRAINDICATIONS
More than a few contra-indications:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propranolol#Contraindications
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_blocker#Contraindications
ALTERNATIVE: BIO-FEEDBACK / MINDFULNESS
Bio-feedback mindfulness exercises are likely to be able to have the same effect after practice, not just in general, but in the immediate short term preceding an anticipated stress:
”Financial decision making : Financial traders use biofeedback as a tool for regulating their level of emotional arousal in order to make better financial decisions. The technology company Philips and the Dutch bank ABN AMRO developed a biofeedback device for retail investors based on a galvanic skin response sensor.... financial decision makers can learn how to effectively regulate their emotions using heart rate measurements.”
”Stress reduction : A randomized study by Sutarto et al. assessed the effect of resonant breathing biofeedback (recognize and control involuntary heart rate variability) among manufacturing operators; depression, anxiety and stress significantly decreased.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biofeedback#Financial_decision...
"I suspect it’s not doing anything direct for your anxiety, rather damping the racing heartbeat and increased blood pressure you usually experience in anticipation of stress (PTSD style association), and without that biofeedback sensor, your metacognition of anxiety doesn’t ramp up as much."
That's it. Heartbeat is gone, anxiety is still there. Also the "adrenaline rush" is gone.
How have you observed people in the hedge fund industry using Propranolol? How would they acquire it, use it, and was there any talk of negative side effects?
