Performance Anxiety
You’re about to get into an important basketball game, about to race in your main event, about to compete in the finals for a volleyball tournament. Either way you want to perform at your best and meet the expectations of your teammates. Your mind is racing, your heart beating rapidly, your lips and throat parched,, and most importantly you feel terrified. What most athletes feel is called performance anxiety. In this article, Evan delves into the intricacies of performance anxiety and how to combat it.
What is Performance Anxiety?
Performance anxiety (aka stage fright) is a set of emotions experienced right before an important event. Most of the time, performance anxiety can be beneficial up to a certain point. When dealing with performance anxiety, it triggers a “fight or flight” response that prepares the body for potential dangers, making us more alert and ready to respond. For many people, these feelings of anxiety will subside once the event has started or passed. However for others, performance anxiety can become crippling as it may prevent them from pursuing their passion or careers. It is important to note that if you experience these crippling effects, it is advised to seek professional help.
Why Do We Feel Performance Anxiety?
The amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for fear, triggers a set of chemical reactions that releases adrenaline. It then contributes to the physical effects we feel when wrestling with performance anxiety: high heart rate, dry mouth, numbness, trembling hands and voice, sweating, feeling ill, racing pulse and pounding heart, and tight throat. When feeling performance anxiety, it is common to feel symptoms of dread, endless worry, and becoming withdrawn from reality.
How to Combat Performance Anxiety
For many, performing deep breathing exercises, challenging negative thoughts and replacing them with positive thoughts, and creating positive visualizations of success can help calm or overcome effects of this anxiety. For a few, therapy and counseling can help them identify and understand the root cause of their anxiety and fear. Therapies can also provide ways of coping mechanisms to handle these emotions when they arise.
Conclusion
In conclusion, performance anxiety is a normal feeling that almost all people in the world have felt. Although it is normal to experience performance anxiety it is as important to develop healthy ways of coping with such emotions, so it does not become crippling and life altering for you. If it is too much to deal with, it is strongly advised to seek professional help.
Sources
https://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/stage-fright-performance-anxiety
https://www.clinical-partners.co.uk/insights-and-news/anxiety/item/what-is-performance-anxiety