Editing Beta blocker (section)

=== Anxiety ===
Officially, beta blockers are not approved for [[anxiolytic]] use by the U.S. [[Food and Drug Administration]].<ref name="pmid16957148">{{cite journal | vauthors = Schneier FR | title = Clinical practice. Social anxiety disorder | journal = The New England Journal of Medicine | volume = 355 | issue = 10 | pages = 1029–1036 | date = September 2006 | pmid = 16957148 | doi = 10.1056/NEJMcp060145 }}</ref> However, many controlled trials in the past 25 years indicate beta blockers are effective in [[anxiety disorders]], though the mechanism of action is not known.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Tyrer P | title = Anxiolytics not acting at the benzodiazepine receptor: beta blockers | journal = Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry | volume = 16 | issue = 1 | pages = 17–26 | date = January 1992 | pmid = 1348368 | doi = 10.1016/0278-5846(92)90004-X | s2cid = 24742562 }}</ref> The physiological symptoms of the [[fight-or-flight]] response (pounding heart, cold/clammy hands, increased respiration, sweating, etc.) are significantly reduced, thus enabling anxious individuals to concentrate on the task at hand.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

Musicians, public speakers, actors, and professional [[dancers]] have been known to use beta blockers to avoid [[performance anxiety]], [[stage fright]], and tremor during both [[Audition (performing arts)|audition]]s and public performances. The application to stage fright was first recognized in ''[[The Lancet]]'' in 1976, and by 1987, a survey conducted by the [[International Conference of Symphony Orchestra Musicians]], representing the 51 largest orchestras in the United States, revealed 27% of its musicians had used beta blockers and 70% obtained them from friends, not physicians.<ref name="nyt2004">{{cite news | vauthors = Tindall B |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/17/arts/music/better-playing-through-chemistry.html |title=Better Playing Through Chemistry |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150826190339/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/17/arts/music/better-playing-through-chemistry.html |archive-date=August 26, 2015 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=October 17, 2004}}</ref> Beta blockers are inexpensive, said to be relatively safe, and on one hand, seem to improve musicians' performances on a technical level, while some, such as Barry Green, the author of "The Inner Game of Music" and Don Greene, a former Olympic diving coach who teaches Juilliard students to overcome their stage fright naturally, say the performances may be perceived as "soulless and inauthentic".<ref name="nyt2004"/>