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OfLittleToNoValue t1_j462pye wrote

Anxiety makes you second guess yourself, the opposite of flow. Flow is near autonomic responses with minimal thinking.

I've definitely noticed if I'm playing something like that saber focusing more and getting anxious about actually impairs it. Conversely, zoning out and just reacting improves performance. I'll get going so well I'll want to check my score and the moment my brain turns on I miss once, panic, and miss a bunch.

When I get anxious, the blocks seem faster. In states of flow they actually seem slower and my responses faster because I'm not thinking about them... It's a lot like ultra instinct if you're a DBZ nerd.

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SkyXDay t1_j45om3v wrote

This is actually very interesting. I am an artist/producer and have always suffered from anxiety/depression.

I have used SSRIs, psychedelics (weed/mush), and now Im sober but currently on an antihistamine that really calms my central nervous system.

I have not experienced a good consistent “state of flow” for quite some time until now. Its really alarming the difference it can make not experiencing the physical symptoms of anxiety and how much it can play into worsening the state of the condition and hinder creative benefits such as the flow state.

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palox3 t1_j45tdnh wrote

what kind of antihistamines do you take? thanks

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SkyXDay t1_j4656zy wrote

Currently on 10mg of hydroxyzine.

Its worked wonders for me at least, especially coming off of a long unhealthy relationship with weed.

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dudeWithKeys t1_j47xhj9 wrote

Hydroxyzine you say? I too have a long unhealthy relationship with weed. I may give this a shot, thanks.

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SkyXDay t1_j486nni wrote

Yeah no problem, its great for the withdrawals too.

I got covid in December and I couldn’t help myself but smoke towards the end of the illness and I literally felt like my lungs were collapsing so it was a big reality check for me.

Big stupid of me but it lead me to seek out mental health treatment again and it’s actually given me the space to breathe and really attack my depression with behavior/habit changes.

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dudeWithKeys t1_j487ko3 wrote

I'm an odd case with that, I've had covid twice, but neither time was it worse than common flu. I never stopped smoking the entire time and I felt fine relatively speaking. My wife and mother on the other hand both hand to go to the hospital, but luckily they don't smoke. I also never smoke with paper and only use glass or dry herb vape or the occasional live rosin dabs, so maybe that has something to do with it. I'll definitely try giving this a shot, I need something for withdrawal. I've been trying to limit myself to half a gram a day as opposed to a full gram every day.

Congrats on battling your depression by the way, that's always good to hear. Good luck carrying on with that.

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futureshocked2050 t1_j469d3u wrote

Big ooof for me in high school jazz band. I was seriously in my head too much in my solos even though I was pretty decent and this study kind of reminds me of that. It was to the point where I'd be soloing but also kind of 'talking to myself' to figure out the next pattern I should throw in. Always tripped me up.

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jampapi t1_j46f3ml wrote

I went through the same thing in high school jazz band- I was the bass player (I still play) and was constantly improvising over the chords to back up all the other soloists. When it was my turn to solo, I struggled hard with jumping out of my “walking bassline box” and into the “solo box” to improvise different kinds of lines.

Once I started playing in bands and hosting a community jam, playing with all kinds of new players every week forced me to be more reactive, and listen to all the parts (including my bass part) as a whole. That jam was the first time I got out of my head and could listen to everything without thinking about playing.

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banjo_assassin t1_j47iu7w wrote

Yeah but as a bass player, do you notice the entire ensemble drop out, turn and stare at you, along with the audience, contributing zero to the groove, yet creating an atmosphere of tension that you try to resolve with virtuosity, instead of grooving with your buds like a horn, guitar, piano gets to do?

Not to mention an upper extension sounds like a modulation without the context that the bass normally provides?

But yeah, cool article. I’ve played with uptight people that need to stop the jam and start over, and others that can tell you the tempo, groove, feel, and more just by playing an intro. Definitely seems like experience and playing outside your personal bag (like your jams) helps get to the big picture.

The emotional intelligence part seems the most intriguing though. Some of the “spectrum” folks in regular society did so well with the flow, while super charming charismatic types were crushed by musical anxiety. Again, experience mattered most!

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dvowel t1_j46parl wrote

More like, when you get in a state of flow, your anxiety goes away because you aren't thinking of anything else in the world in that moment.

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broadenandbuild t1_j481ugn wrote

The predictive capability of emotional intelligence after controlling for factors such as IQ, personality, self esteem, and self-determination is effectively nil. In other words, most scientific research doesn’t support the existence of EI as an independent variable.

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Anotherherolost t1_j48cqf3 wrote

Overthinking makes it hard to carelessly channel your ideas. Once again the boys at r/science are doing the lords work. Can't wait to read your study on burn victims and their unlikelihood to work around fire.

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