Performance anxiety

Performance anxiety introduction

Generally speaking, performance anxiety refers to the fear or apprehension of being in situations where you have to prove your abilities or achievements. Alternatively, it refers to anxiety associated with the expectation of achievement or the need to succeed in certain situations.
Performance anxiety is a category, an umbrella term. It refers to many different individual fears, such as the fear of failure. These fears can relate to different areas of life in which performance plays a role and can occur in different areas, e.g. in educational, professional, sporting or artistic contexts. The anxiety can be so severe that it interferes with a person’s ability to perform their tasks adequately, or it can be so severe that it can lead to a total drop in performance, which may be prolonged.
It is important to note that performance anxiety is quite normal and many people face it. However, there are strategies to deal with it, or better still, treat it thoroughly.

Effects of performance anxiety

The effects of performance anxiety can be diverse and extend to the physical and psychological level. For example, it can affect self-confidence and cause stress. They range from nervous behavior such as sweating and trembling to a block that affects the person’s thinking and actions. In some cases, chronic performance anxiety can even lead to serious mental health problems such as anxiety disorders or depression. It is important to treat such pathological anxiety instead of having to live with the effects for decades.

Causes of performance anxiety

If performance anxiety is not so severe, the following causes may (also) be present:

1. high expectations: If someone feels that high expectations are placed on them, this can lead to intense pressure, which can lead to anxiety.
2. perfectionism: The urge to do everything perfectly can lead to people constantly worrying that they are not living up to their own high standards.
3. social pressure: Comparison with others or the desire to prove oneself to others can lead to performance anxiety.

There are the following options:
1. self-acceptance: accept that no one is perfect and learn to view mistakes as part of the learning process.
2. set realistic goals: Set achievable goals and work towards them in small steps.
3. mental preparation: use relaxation and breathing techniques to calm yourself down before stressful situations.
4. positive self-talk: Replace negative thoughts with positive and supportive self-talk.
5. practice and preparation: The better you prepare for a task, the more confident you will be.

If your performance anxiety is a little stronger, then you have one or more of the following fears lying within you. These should be treated as they are pathogenic(pathological). Then all these theories and tactics to strengthen yourself won ‘t do much good, as pathogenic causes are much more serious. If an arrow has pierced your leg, there is no point in treating the skin around it, the cause, the arrow, is the problem and that is where real healing comes from. With this in mind, these fears should be treated. Furthermore, there is no point in spending ages dealing with the symptoms if you only use a fraction of the time to treat the causes.

Free test for performance anxiety

But what performance anxiety do I have? Because you can only treat the fears that are really, specifically present in you. You can have yourself tested here on this page, free of charge, quickly and effectively for specific fears (fear of failure, fear of responsibility, etc.). Simply click on the blue ball at the bottom right. The fear test will then open. Type in the first fear from the following list of performance fears and you will be tested for it. This only takes a few seconds. If the test is negative, take the next fear from the list and do the test with it. Go through the list until you have found a fear.

If you have found a fear within yourself, congratulations! Because now you can start treating it.

Performance anxiety – it doesn’t have to be!

There are several methods that work to reduce the burden of anxiety. The best known is certainly the confrontation method. Here, you are confronted with the fear you want to treat. This alone reduces the tension/stress of the anxiety. It should be obvious that this is also the least popular method. After all, the confrontation with the fear is exactly what you are afraid of. Fortunately, there are other effective methods that can be used to treat anxiety. For example, our “Fear Therapy” app. This doesn’t confront you, but instead “gently” reduces the tension/stress. There is also no trip into the past and you can treat your anxiety on your own, from the comfort of your own home. This also means there is no need for appointments, travel to and from the appointment, searching for a parking space, etc. Once the session is finished, there is no need for repetition or further treatment.
The real unique selling point of the app is that it resolves thoroughly! By this we mean that the associated negative cognition (nK) is also resolved and, secondly, that the stress/tension is thoroughly, i.e. completely, resolved.

So take the fear you found in the fear test and type it into the “Dissolve Fear” app. Then the treatment can begin.

The treatment is simple, all you have to do is start.

Good luck and good luck!

Illness is not a question of guilt. Nobody would be ashamed to see a doctor because of knee pain.