Last year at the Oscars became an actress Rachel Sennott asked on the red carpet what she says to herself before big moments. Her answer: “Take the beta blocker, girl. Swallow it and go for it.” The journalist answers: “Being drugged is in!” Sennott agrees with a smile. The clip from fashion magazine “The Cut” has almost 900,000 likes. Some celebrate the then 29-year-old for the saying, while others shake their heads: “As a psychologist, that makes me sad” or “We shouldn’t suppress our emotions,” it says in the comments.
At the 2024 Golden Globes, Robert Downey Jr. opened his acceptance speech by saying, “I took a beta blocker, so this will be a breeze.” And in an episode of the reality show “The Kardashians” In 2022, mother Kris Jenner offered her daughter Khloé one of her pills backstage before a TV appearance. Fans criticized this, one X account wrote: “Beta blockers are not Tic Tacs, Kris.”
2018 described the “Republic” Beta blockers are still considered “the fad drug that no one talks about”; a quiet phenomenon among professional musicians, surgeons and graduate students who ordered their pills on the dark web. A “Nature” survey of scientists in 2008 showed that 15 percent had already taken performance-enhancing drugs such as beta blockers for non-medical reasons.
Today people openly talk about beta blockers and even make money with them. The US podcasters Paige DeSorbo and Hannah Berner (“Giggly Squad”) take beta blockers before their live performances and make no secret of it. On the contrary: In their shop they sell an engraved pill box with the words “Beta Blockers”. There are also corresponding caps on Etsy.
How do you personally deal with stress or nervousness?
From heart pill to lifestyle product
Propranolol is anything but new. The active ingredient was developed in the 1960s and its inventor James W. Black received the Nobel Prize for it. Propranolol is originally a heart medication that lowers the heart rate and regulates blood pressure. But it also dampens physical stress reactions: racing heart, trembling, sweaty hands.
What is new is how low-threshold the drug is being marketed in the USA. Telemedicine startups like San Francisco-based Kick Health send propranolol straight to your home after a quick online consultation – it’s now considered a hack for important meetings, first dates and job interviews. According to the Wall Street Journal, a doctor in the USA regularly prescribes the drug to his brides to help them stay relaxed at the altar. There are hundreds of videos on the topic on Tiktok.
In the US, propranolol prescriptions have increased by 28 percent since 2020. In Great Britain, data evaluated by the Observer shows an even steeper increase: among girls between the ages of 12 and 17, prescriptions increased by 92 percent within ten years. For young women between 18 and 23 by 82 percent. British child and adolescent psychiatrists criticize this and say clearly: Propranolol has “no place” in treating anxiety in young people.
What is it like in Switzerland?
The situation in this country is special. Unlike in the USA, propranolol is expressly approved in Switzerland for “anxiety states” – this is what it says in the specialist information for the drug Inderal. «Propranolol requires a prescription. Access via family members or online channels can hardly be completely prevented,” says psychiatrist and psychotherapist Joe Habenschwiler, founding president of the Swiss Society for Anxiety and Depression.
Important: The medication does not affect the psychological component of the fear, but only the physical symptoms – racing heart, trembling, sweating. This could be helpful for a specific occasion such as a lecture. “However, there is no evidence for the basic treatment of anxiety disorders.” Standard treatment is psychotherapy and antidepressants.
Is the trend from the USA and Great Britain now spilling over into Switzerland? Hänschwiler gives the all-clear: “Individual reports indicate selective use for exam anxiety,” but this is not a broad trend.
Anxiety, nervousness, anxiety disorder: What you need to know
Psychiatrist Joe Habenschwiler answers the most important questions.
Mr. Habenschwiler, is fear increasing among young people in Switzerland?
There are now initial studies that suggest an increase over the last ten years. Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental illnesses – almost one in three people will experience one in their lifetime. The burden is particularly high on young women between the ages of 15 and 24. Psychological complaints increased particularly in the years before and during the corona pandemic – but to what extent the pandemic is responsible cannot be conclusively clarified.
What is the difference between nervousness, the frequently used term “anxiety” and an anxiety disorder?
Nervousness before exams or performances is normal and goes away quickly – to a certain extent it even improves performance. The feeling that young people often refer to as “anxiety” is not automatically pathological. An anxiety disorder is when the fear is excessively strong and persistent, when it leads to avoidance and significantly restricts everyday life.
What helps those affected in the short term?
Education is important: Fear is not a weakness, but a normal protective reaction of the body. It only becomes problematic when the alarm system is activated too often, too strongly or without any real danger. Breathing and relaxation exercises as well as a calm, non-avoidant approach to anxiety-provoking situations are helpful in the short term.
And what helps in the long term?
Psychotherapy, especially cognitive behavioral therapy. Those affected learn to classify fear signals, change unfavorable thought patterns and gradually face fear. In the case of severe anxiety disorders, additional medication treatment may be useful.
Psychiatrist warns of risks
Hänschwiler warns of an insidious problem: psychological habituation. In contrast to sedatives like Xanax, there is no classic addictive potential, but: “Anyone who gets used to the drug as a ‘solution’ runs the risk of developing a kind of behavioral dependency.” At some point, those affected think they can’t do it without beta blockers. This means that the actual fear remains unaddressed and important learning processes do not take place.
Propranolol is also not physically harmless: it can lower blood pressure too much, slow the pulse and, in the worst case, lead to fainting. In asthma it can cause breathing problems and in diabetes it can mask low blood sugar levels. In England, a 17-year-old died in 2023 after an overdose in combination with other medications. According to Habenschwiler, those affected must get to the root of the problem: “Fear should not simply be suppressed, but understood, regulated and corrected through new experiences.”
Do you or does someone you know have a mental illness?
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Gloria Karthan (glo), has been working for 20 minutes since 2019. She is a member of the editorial board and head of the lifestyle team.
