Quote · The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
What SpaceX's IPO Means for Tech Stocks, and Coping With Panic Attacks
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Galloway's Personal Panic Attack History and Toolkit
At 20:18 · chapter starts 19:08
With brutal candor, Galloway describes his most humiliating panic attack: on stage at the DLD conference in front of 400 people, he began gulping for air, had to put his hands on his knees, and the entire audience went silent, fearing he was having a cardiac event. The aftermath — a month of dread about the next speaking engagement — is as vivid as the incident itself. His toolkit has evolved through trial and error [1] — Scott Galloway "Propranolol beta blockers, a shotgunned beer before Bill Maher, and Andrew Huberman's double-inhale breathing technique — Galloway has trie…" 19:55 : beta blockers (propranolol, the same medication used by concert pianists and violinists) suppress the fight-or-flight response before high-stakes appearances. For his first appearance on Bill Maher, he was so nervous he 'shotgunned a beer' — which he acknowledges with characteristic self-awareness qualifies as 'functioning alcoholism.' He notes that combining beta blockers and alcohol is probably not a good idea, but he's being transparent rather than prescriptive. The deeper message is that his frequency has dropped dramatically: from about once a year to roughly once every 300 engagements, or every 2-3 years — a direct result of volume and practice rather than any pharmaceutical solution.
Galloway estimates he has a panic attack roughly once every 300 speaking engagements, or about once every 2-3 years given his current volume.
Propranolol beta blockers, a shotgunned beer before Bill Maher, and Andrew Huberman's double-inhale breathing technique — Galloway has tried everything. He's candid that the beer method 'is called functioning alcoholism,' but the only thing that truly worked is relentless practice.
About 11% of US adults — roughly 1 in 10 — experience a panic attack in any given year, and as many as a third have had one at some point in their lives.
After a very public panic attack in front of 400 people at the DLD conference, Galloway still gets hired and paid to speak. His insight: after a panic attack, the audience quickly returns to thinking about themselves. Vulnerability is not career-ending — it can make you more likable.
