Understanding Performance Anxiety: Strategies for Managing and Overcoming
Performance anxiety, commonly known as "stage fright," isn't just about performing on stages. It can arise when you're called on to do something well, like answering questions in a meeting or presenting your work. It's a common worry that activates your body's stress response, making you feel fearful, anxious, and overwhelmed.
We chatted with licensed independent social worker Theresa Callard-Moore, PhD, about performance anxiety. She explained that it falls under the umbrella of anxiety disorders, including social anxiety, separation anxiety, and generalized anxiety disorder. All these conditions cause a heightened stress response that can leave you feeling intensely fearful and embarrassed or overwhelmed.
While a reasonable amount of anxiety can be beneficial, helping you stay safe, too much anxiety can work against you. It can make it difficult for you to focus and bring your best self to the situation. If our anxiety response gets overactive, our logic goes out the window, making it hard to deal with the situation at hand.
Performance anxiety can affect any situation that calls for task completion. For example, it might happen when you're playing sports, taking a test, or engaging in intimate moments. It's common for people to experience performance anxiety alongside other forms of anxiety. If you have social anxiety, you might also have performance anxiety when speaking in front of a crowd.
Symptoms of performance anxiety can include an elevated heart rate, shaky hands, sweating, feeling colder than usual, tense muscles, shortness of breath, dry mouth, nausea, and vomiting. If you're feeling a little nervous before a job interview or need to take a deep breath before singing karaoke, that's normal. But performance anxiety goes beyond these typical nerves, causing a heightened anxiety response triggered by your sympathetic nervous system.
To calm your system in the moment, try techniques like exercise to release feel-good chemicals, shaking off physically to release built-up tension, the butterfly hug technique, deep breathing, and box breathing. A mental health professional can help you get to the root of your anxiety and find strategies to cope if anxiety is affecting your self-confidence, your ability to do your job, or your overall well-being.
Remember, anxiety can be beneficial up to a certain point. But when it goes over a five, it stops being logical and starts working against you. Don't let anxiety get in the way of your success. Take control by learning to manage it effectively.
Strategies for Managing Performance Anxiety
- Mindfulness and Relaxation Techniques: Practice focusing on the present moment to reduce anxiety. Deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and body scans are effective techniques for managing performance anxiety.
- Positive Self-Talk: Encourage yourself with positive affirmations to boost your confidence and reduce anxiety.
- Cognitive Behavioral Techniques (CBT): Identify and challenge negative thought patterns. Replace them with more realistic and positive ones to help reduce anxiety.
- Physical Activity and Exercise: Regular exercise can reduce overall anxiety levels and improve your mood. Physical activity can also enhance your focus and mental clarity before performance situations.
- Healthy Lifestyle Habits: Maintain a consistent sleep schedule, follow a balanced diet, and stay hydrated to support your mental health.
- Visualization and Preparation: Imagine yourself performing well in the situation to build your confidence and prepare mentally. Proper preparation can help reduce anxiety by increasing feelings of control.
- Music and Emotional Expression: Listen to calming music or express your emotions through journaling or creative activities.
- Seeking Support: Engage with supportive colleagues, friends, or therapists to discuss anxieties and gain emotional support.
By incorporating these techniques into your daily life and performance situations, you can better manage performance anxiety and improve your overall well-being.
- The strategies for managing performance anxiety include practicing mindfulness and relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and body scans.
- Additionally, engaging in cognitive behavioral techniques (CBT) by identifying and challenging negative thought patterns can help reduce performance anxiety, replacing them with more realistic and positive ones.
