Over the course of her profession, Tia Ungar, a dancer, cheerleader, and cheer coach based mostly in the UK, has handled persistent anxiousness. When her anxiousness peaks, it’s a problem to be taught and keep in mind choreography.
“Once I was at my worst with my anxiousness, even simply being in a dance class was fairly an anxious factor for me,” Ungar says. “In attempting to calm myself down and be current, there was not all the time a lot area left for me to recollect what I used to be bodily meant to be doing.”
Studying and retaining choreography and corrections could be difficult for any dancer. However sure psychological well being situations—like anxiousness, melancholy, ADHD, OCD, and PTSD, to call a number of—could make it much more troublesome to course of and retrieve reminiscences. Understanding how these situations influence the mind, and discovering methods to each tackle these adjustments and enhance total reminiscence, may also help dancers cope.
How Psychological Well being Impacts Reminiscence
The results of psychological well being on reminiscence would possibly differ based mostly on the character of the psychological well being situation, in line with Paula Thomson, a scientific psychologist who works with dancers and is a professor at California State College, Northridge.
Despair impacts the prefrontal cortex of the mind, “which could be very concerned in reminiscence processing and retrieval,” Thomson says. That may make the thoughts really feel much less sharp, in addition to disrupt starvation and sleep cycles. With out correct vitamin and relaxation, a dancer can be even much less outfitted to operate at most reminiscence capability.
Anxiousness-related situations typically lead to divided focus, which implies an individual is attending to each the duty at hand and their expertise of tension. “When individuals have an anxiousness dysfunction, they really feel the anxiousness so acutely that they’ll’t belief themselves to be taught, as a result of they simply are so anxious in regards to the catastrophic ‘what ifs,’ ” Thomson explains.
Some dancers may additionally dissociate as a coping mechanism for very excessive anxiousness. Dissociation refers to a state of disconnection the place a person feels in some way separated from the current second or their sense of self. “The reminiscence space of the mind, the hippocampus, sort of shutters on and off as a result of the anxiousness dosing is so excessive,” Thomson says, which might trigger reminiscence gaps.
Instruments for Dancers
When psychological well being points result in reminiscence troubles, “the 1st step is to acknowledge and attend to self-care,” Thomson says. If the issue is comparatively gentle, there are some ways you’ll be able to apply by yourself. To calm anxiousness, Ungar recommends taking a collection of steadying breaths, which may also help regulate the nervous system, resulting in a lower within the bodily signs of tension. Thomson additionally suggests beginning every day with an inside scan to gauge your bodily and psychological wellness, so you’ll be able to then implement self-regulation expertise that can assist you really feel extra current. Study issues like your anxiousness ranges, feelings, and urge for food.
“If it turns into a persistent downside, search skilled assist,” Thomson says. Think about reaching out to a psychological well being skilled with expertise working with dancers, creatives, or athletes, who can present recommendation and coping methods tailor-made to you.
To assist enhance reminiscence, Kathleen McGuire Gaines—a former dancer and the founding father of Minding the Hole, a corporation targeted on psychological well being advocacy inside the dance trade—recommends utilizing visualization strategies. Mentally working by means of troublesome choreographic sequences and picturing your self mastering them, for instance, may also help cement these sequences in your reminiscence. “There’s been lots of analysis carried out on how efficient visualization is and the way in which it connects your thoughts and your physique,” she explains.
Ungar agrees, including that listening to the music aided her visualization apply. “Simply getting used to the music actually helped me, after I was in these conditions the place my anxiousness was excessive and I used to be extra careworn, to depend on reminiscence a bit extra,” she says.
McGuire Gaines encourages dancers to ask questions if the choreography isn’t sinking in. Moreover, in the event you really feel snug, be sincere about your psychological well being along with your trainer or inventive director. They may be capable of assist present assets and different assist.
