Performance Anxiety Symptoms
Performance anxiety is the type of anxiety that people get when they are doing something in which they are going to be evaluated. This type of anxiety is often called stage fright, even though athletes, musicians, and regular people can get it. For a lot of people, performance anxiety starts when they have to stand up in front of a crowd to give a speech or when they step out on the stage to sing a duet with their friend. Most of us have felt those butterflies in our stomach before a big event at one time or another in our lives.
The physical anxiety symptoms that show up in someone affected by performance anxiety are a dry mouth, sweaty palms, nausea, a racing heart, and shaking hands and knees. The cause of these performance anxiety symptoms is usually different in each person. The first thing to check is whether or not the person is actually prepared for the event that is causing them these anxiety symptoms. For example, the sufferer may be unprepared for the speech that he or she has to give in front of the class, or the actor may be nervous about going on stage because he just got the part last week.
One type of performance anxiety is test anxiety. About 20% of university students have experienced test anxiety symptoms that have affected their grades. Anxiety comes about when our body senses that danger is near. Tests, giving speeches, and playing the piano may not sound like dangerous activities, but our body perceives these situations where someone is going to be evaluating us as dangerous, and starts our nervous system and brain working overtime.
What is really dangerous about performance anxiety symptoms is that if they aren’t treated, they can definitely get in the way of a person’s career, education, and hobbies. For example, if an athlete is nervous before the big game, and then fumbles the game-winning touchdown, the next time he has the chance to get on the field, his anxiety symptoms are probably going to be worse. He may have the feeling that he is not going to succeed floating around in his head, and he may just give up on football altogether.
Regardless of whether you are a professional athlete, a famous opera singer, or just a regular person, you have probably had performance anxiety symptoms sometime in your life. Overcoming these symptoms means staying positive, being prepared for evaluation, and not letting failure get you down. The more a person plays the violin in front of a crowd, gives a heartwarming toast, or catches a pop fly, the less the chances are that they will be paralyzed by performance anxiety symptoms.
