Sorry about the chicken. Wasnt meant to offend you. Didnt really come up with a better expression since english isnt my mothertounge, sorry man.

Anyways, I dont think there are any long term effects unless you use it often.

But still taking the medication defeats the purpose. Getting better inner game is the number one thing that will help you progress. And sure, I respect your right to have insecurities and anxieties but I would still like to tell you that: Hey, you will be better off without them. If you are gonna hide from your problems all your life you wont improve.

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I'm not trying to be a dick Ezo, but you're being a Pick Up Snob in my opinion.

bbardot: you just reminded me about porn

Nothing is wrong with focusing on improving inner game. As a matter of fact, I don't think that anyone here would argue against that. But consider this:

There is no one more masterful at helping a person with their inner game in all walks of life than the Psychiatrist. He/she prefers to use hard, rational reasoning and analysis to help their patients beat back their mental demons, so that they can enjoy a better life. This method works in the majority of cases. However, there are times where a patient's mental roadblocks are just too overwhelming to overcome with mere reason. For these situations, the Psychiatrist calls out the heavy guns and utilizes medications, whose purpose is to bypass those mental roadblocks, so that a patient can understand the root causes of their mental dilemmas, and focus their efforts on the cause, instead of battling the symptoms.

Ey man, I don't feel offended. I don't use medecins by the way . I was just stepping in to protect those people that do take them. Medecin can be usefull. Medecin can improve your inner game. In my life I have met many men who go out every single night but never have the guts to open a set. Those guys can never get inner game. They are sooo scared of rejection that they are uncapable of opening. For these kind of men, medecins can be helpful. If medecins can make them open a set, they will realize that women can be very responsive and friendly when you open them. Besides that, they can learn how to properly game. At some point they will realize that they can open a set easily and keep the set hooked. Once they realize this, they can get the confidence they need to open sets withou taking medecin. So I don't think medecins are bad. But they have side effects. I read about medecins that can make you open sets because they eliminate your fears but as a side effect you can commit suicide because you have no fear to die anymore. Other medecins are known to make you fat as hell. So I would be really carefull to take them. But if there really is no other option, then please, take them.

Some interesting arguments have come up. I had an idea some of these issues would come up when I started the thread.

Some people seemed to have missed the point I tried to stress in the first post. These are not benzos like Valium and Xanax. They are not going to give you a buzz or cause physical dependence.

The psychological dependence is something that certainly should be considered, but not something I have experienced in my use - which has declined as I have gotten use to the situations I was previously using them for.

This is NOT for everyone. This is not about being a pussy and sucking it up. This is for people who have hardwired physiological responses to stressful situations. If you just have butterflys and get a little nervous excitement, then you do not need beta blockers.

If you get serious shakes, sweating, stammered speech etc, then these will take away those responses and let you concentrate on the task at hand. You still need to have good game of course.

Something else which has been an added bonus for me: CONFIDENCE!!! I had dealt with these issues all my life. When I started taking the beta-blockers, it was totally liberating...these problems which had plagued me had completely vanished...it was like gaining freedom...it made me super happy and beaming with confidence. I finally felt like I was on a level playing field.

I absolutely agree with the school of thought that Beta Blockers will help to improve your game, if used correctly.

I believe that if you take beta blockers, you should use them as a tool for you to gain more experience improve your skills so that you are more confident in the future.

Where can I get more info on Beta Blockers? Where can I get them?

You can start here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_blocker Then go talk to your doctor.

Speaking of which, I did go ask my own doctor about this. He informed me that their effect is limited to controlling tremors, reducing rapid heart rate, limiting profuse sweating....basically counteracting the body's reaction to adrenaline. They will NOT help a person relax in the least bit. As a matter of fact, asthmatics can't take beta blockers.

99% of the people on this board wouldn't get that much benefit from them IMO, as our problem (myself included) is with INNER game, not PHYSICAL game.

Pro musicians take Beta Blockers routinely. They just give a much lower dose than for the heart patients they were originally intended for. It is true they do not take away the actual fear, just the physical effects of it. So if you are a musician your hands won't be trembling so bad you can't play. That is only for concert night not every day.

Benzo's on the other hand are highly addictive, and if you stop taking them abruptly you can get bad withdrawal symptoms.