Lets talk about gaming mentality.

Yeah ladder anxiety is a thing, That's one of the reason that competitive 1v1 games are less popular than team games because there is no one else to blame except yourself..
But you can get over it if you dont play to win but to have fun and get better at the game. You will eventually win a lot of games too.

Ive got two powerful tips for you that always works for me. This is a government secret so please don't tell anyone

1. Go to John Mayers spotifypage, put on shuffle and just let it run. There are no better way to calm down. His mood is so chill and all his songs are about the same. (perfect for background)

2. Put this video on second monitor or in background (yes it is a beautiful 30 min version) There is no way you are gonna stress with the amazing acting skills of Shia in the background

Little spiritual answer maybe. One of the guys that trained me in 1v1, Grizzy he helped me see the importance of staying calm. He told me about Ekhart Tolle, a guy who wrote the power of now. I never completely finished it, but its one of the few books i actually attempted to read (audiobook is no book HA!). The book isn't for everyone but it sure helps me use my mind as a tool in a more effective calm way.

I had something like this, motion sickness or something, only ever happened with one game, was either far cry 1 or 2 on 360. Couldn't play that game for more than a minute without feeling dizzy and sick, have no idea why..

It gets easier with practice, after a few hundred games you realize it's just a game, you may lose, but if you do make sure you take something from it.

I used to get a tad nervous too back in alpha, but I put on really fast tempo music which calmed me down and I used the adrenaline from the nerves to think clearer. I still do this in tournaments.

Always remember, it's just a game and you will be fine.

And yeah I remember you in the 2v2 tourney. Haha you were a mess .

I remember my last PA-caused adrenaline rush lol. That was against Neon, if i didn't win it at that time i would have lost to not being able to stop myself from shaking entirely. Might also have been toomuch energydrink in too little time.

Thats not too much energy drink Mot, it is too much weed

Its never toomuch, maybe toolittle lol.

I got over my ladder anxiety by beating @clopse 50 times in a row. Then when i lost I felt like i was only being humane to throw a game to him now and then so he didn't quit.

But yea, maybe play 1v1 while talking to people. Maybe the social distraction will help you have more fun and ease into it.

It's the hope of that one game that keeps me playing.

I already see Elodea like

Ha ha 2 cans of monster and I go full on caffeine withdrawal. Shakes and all lol.

I feel the same way against you.

And this is why I play FFAs. 1v1s feel super detached for me - i'm not setting up a random lobby anymore and waiting for some random to drop in

It was kinda exciting to see who I'd get haha.

Believe you are the best player in the world, so you have nothing to worry about.

Then if you lose a game, look back at it and figure out what went wrong. Now you're even better than before.

I often play PA with drinks, no shirt, and pizza. You learn to find gaps in the game where APM is less important and you can play with one hand for a few seconds while shovelling pizza into your face. I would not recommend chocolate for this, because it seems to have a much faster vanishing-from-desk rate than pizza, and too much can make you feel more sick (whereas pizza just makes you feel more awesome).

When I start playing ranked the first 2 or 3 matches do give me a bit of anxiety. After that I get kinda used to the ladder games and from there on I don't have that much trouble with it anymore.

To help me through those first games I always ask @xankar to talk to me with his soothing and kinda erotic voice. It makes me feel a bit weird in my tummy but its a better feeling then that anxiety. It actually helps me calm down.

He has this really good repertoire about finding calmness and your inner self. That with his voice carries me through those first 3 games.

I'm sure Xank would love to help you out too. He does talk dirty from time to time though so beware if you're not up to it.

In my experience a good warmup does help a lot. Maybe a round of CSGO, Call of Duty, or train a build order agianst a passive AI. Latter one also helps to keep you relaxed because you get a better feeling what to do at what point of a match (which helps when freaking out).

Personally I also like to drink a cup of black tea, great stuff. Always helps me relaxing and concentrating. Find something.
Btw, drinking lots of water is also something I can highly recommended. Especially stress gets you dehydrated really fast, and then it'll only get worse and worse. Coffee and Tea (or really anything with sugar) doesn't really help in that regard, it can even speed up the dehydration.

Last point I guess is mindset. Don't worry about what to do, in question just do things. Number one rule for RTS, build lots of stuff. And if you lose, check the replay and find things you could have done better. One of the beautyfull things about competetive games is that you can change a frustrating loss into a satisfying learning experience. Counts even more so for 1v1 and RTS.

This is btw more general and less PA, but the rules are generally similar.

I think your viewers are right : it is adrenaline. I never play multiplayer and I have a pretty high anxiety threshold (and I love anxiety and adrenaline or I wouldn't do rock climbing and skydiving), but I might still be able to give you some useful advice.
Firstly, repeating a performance (in this case defeating someone again) is known to cause a lot of stress. You know it is not above your skills, so you fear that failing to repeat will somehow reduce you. At least how you feel of yourself. For people who already suffer from low-self esteem, this is unacceptable. It's a lot less stressful when you don't think you can do it : you have accepted loss already. Also, if you experienced a lot of anxiety when doing the performance, it makes you avoid repeating it even more. A lot of climbers avoid repeating difficult routes for that reason : http://intrepidbiner.com/2015/02/08/never-gonna-do-that-again/ . I have to force myself to repeat difficult routes.

Secondly, there are ways to reduce anxiety. Anxiety is ubiquitous in rock climbing and very detrimental to performance. Even tremors (in the legs) can happen (just like you hand on your mouse) and you have to be able to stop it as fast as possible. It happened to me last week : took me two seconds to get it under control.
Here are two articles on the subject :

• http://www.climbing.com/skill/learn-this-the-over-gripping-myth/
  
• http://www.nicros.com/training/articles/how-to-keep-your-cool-on-a-challenging-climb/

You might be able to apply most of the advices to gaming :

• Deep, steady breathing is the number one antidote to tension. Close your eyes for a moment and turn your thoughts inward to feel air filling your lungs with each slow breath. As you exhale, visualize the tension exiting your body and feel a renewed sense of being centered. This entire process might only take five to fifteen seconds, but it’s invaluable for regaining an optimal state for attacking the next section of the climb. Make it a habit to steady your breathing at every rest.
  
• Keep your thoughts productive and goal-oriented. Resist the tendency to doubt your abilities or ponder the fall potential, and simply narrow your focus onto the next section of climb. It’s best to attack a route one chunk at a time. Concentrate on the moves up to the next rest and forget about what’s below you as well as what’s yet to come above the next chunk. If your only goal is climbing the 6 feet (or whatever) to the next rest position, the burden is greatly reduced and a major cause of tension is erased. In your case : don't plan to defeat you opponent. Plan to be relatively relaxed when you press ready (this is your first win), then plan to choose your start location precisely (this is your second win), then plan to execute a beautiful start build (you're on a roll !), and so on.
• Create a pre-climb or pre-comp ritual. We might laugh at the superstitious behaviors of many pro athletes (and their fans) before a game, but these behaviors have an adaptive advantage—they reduce anxiety. Rituals also help you define meaningful “beginnings” for actions (as in, “After I chalk up three times and clap twice, I begin to climb.”), which can help trigger your full concentration on the upcoming task of actually climbing. In your case, closing your eyes and focusing on your breathing would be a reasonable ritual before entering a match, I think.
• Remember that stress is an adaptive response. The reason we experience physiological changes when we’re anxious is because they are intended to increase strength, power, focus, and drive, giving us the energy we need to succeed. If you’re anxious before a climb, focus on how these positive aspects of the stress response will help you climb, not how the debilitating aspects will hold you back, which can reduce your anxiety about, well, anxiety.
• Figure out what your source of anxiety is, because you can’t change what you don’t understand. Are you nervous because you’re afraid to take a fall, because you know people are watching, or because the climb is above your usual grade? Once you know the source of your anxiety, create focused strategies (practice falling on the route, visit the crag when it’s less busy, etc.).
• Give yourself permission to fail. The more pressure you put on yourself to perform, the greater your anxiety response will be. When you give yourself permission to fail, you remove your self-imposed consequences, and you’ll actually be more likely to succeed. In your case, I think doing quite a lot of silly 1v1 games, where you allow yourself only one strategy even if you will likely loose (like the troll games Elodea does on the ladder : T2 air rush, boom bots only, etc), would help you tremendously (it will train your unconscious to accept defeat, link it with fun and not worry so much).
• Know that anxiety is normal and everyone gets it : they're just better at handling it and you can train to be better too. You should see my face when I struggle with a difficulty more than 5 meters above the last quickdraw, gripping the rock for dear life for no reason.

Lastly, the more anxiety you get, the more courage it takes to put yourself in situations where you know you are likely to trigger it. There is pride in that. You should be proud.

I always find that I play better when I'm stressed, lethargic, and/or pissed off. It makes me think less and lose all sense of self-preservation, I play much more aggressively.

Tbh the salt helps calm the nerves