Non-PG13 (Strong Language): Dancing- extreme anxiety

[MWF]

Well, I have a wedding in two days, and I'm one of the groomsmen. Yay! My brother's getting married! Fuck me in the ass, I have to dance! I would rather choke down a garbage bag full of hair!
I can't even practice alone in my room. I broke into an angry fit of crying and stomping and throwing shit on the ground, for fuck's sake. I can't even look up "beginner's dancing without wanting to puke (exaggeration, not a current symptom). But oh my God, it's not even my celebration, I can't do this. I would rather die.
I seriously can't calm down, and it's keeping me up at 3 AM. What the fuck do I do about this?

This is gonna bite me in the ass so hard in life...

[Kate*]

Honestly, most of these people know you well and will probably be focused on their own dancing and barely notice yours. Absolute worst case scenario, it becomes something you can laugh about later. If you'd feel better, you can tell the person you're dancing with that you're nervous. Just don't drink at the wedding to calm yousrself. That would make it worse.

[MWF]

I wrote this in the middle of a panic attack. Whoops. I took a shot of Crown and gave it a shot in the dark (literally, I was self-conscious about the blinds not fully covering the window... at 330 am) and you know what, I loosened up a little and it didn't totally suck. So maybe this won't be too bad, and I'll have a few drinks, but I don't like getting too drunk to be honest.

[Kate*]

Yeah, just be careful. If you think you can't dance sober, you won't be better drunk. Plus, everybody has that one wedding day story... If you're already self-conscious, don't risk becoming it.

I hate dancing. I danced at my brothers wedding but I had a little bit of alcohol in me. I don't advise it but if you are gonna drink and dance I suggest you don't get drunk and then try and dance because it can lead to their being embarrassing pictures or videos up that you'll probably regret.

My question though, why do you have to dance? The only people that have to dance are the bride and groom and then the mother of the groom and the father of the bride (Unless they opt out of that dance). I was a bridesmaid in my other brothers wedding and I didn't have to dance. Did someone tell you that you have to dance? Are they doing one of those synchronized dances?

If you have a dancing partner, you can also tell them ahead of time that you don't know how to dance and they can kind of guide you or help you out. My dad likes to dance and he's dragged me on the dance floor a few times. I just let him kind of show me. Also, if you are dancing in a group of people all you have to do is move your body back and forth. I've done that a few times on the dance floor. I am still extremely self conscious but at least I am moving and not just standing there doing nothing.

Best of luck.

[MWF]

You know what, this didn't go that bad. I had a steady stream of alcohol that basically had me feeling a solid .12, and after a short panic attack in the bathroom, I felt better and just went with it. It was kind of fun actually.
Kind of. But I made real good friends with the barman that night. And yes, I was part of the wedding party, I was a groomsman.