How to Overcome the Fear of Maths?

Maths anxiety, also known as math phobia, is anxiety about one's ability to do mathematics. It can cause negative emotions like fear of failure, stress, frustration, and embarrassment. It can also interfere with math performance and learning, and lead to math avoidance and low self-confidence.

Maths anxiety can affect anyone, regardless of age, gender, or background. It can start as early as the first grade and persist throughout one's life. It can have serious consequences for one's academic, personal, and professional success.

But the good news is that maths anxiety can be overcome. There are many strategies and resources that can help you cope with your fear of maths and improve your math skills and confidence. In this speech, I will share with you some of these strategies and resources, and hopefully inspire you to embrace maths as a fun and rewarding subject.

What causes maths anxiety?

There is no single cause of maths anxiety. It can result from a combination of factors, such as:

- Negative experiences with maths in the past, such as poor teaching, harsh feedback, high pressure, or failure.

- Negative beliefs about maths or oneself, such as thinking that maths is too hard, boring, irrelevant, or only for smart people, or that one is not good enough or talented enough to do maths.

- Negative emotions associated with maths, such as fear, anger, shame, or guilt.

- Negative expectations about maths outcomes, such as expecting to fail, make mistakes, or be judged by others.

- Negative influences from others, such as parents, teachers, peers, or media, who may express or reinforce negative attitudes towards maths or one's math ability.

How does maths anxiety affect us?

Maths anxiety can affect us in many ways, such as:

- Physically: Maths anxiety can cause physical symptoms such as butterflies in the stomach, a racing heart, sweating, trembling, headaches, or nausea.

- Cognitively: Maths anxiety can impair our working memory , which is like a mental scratchpad that we use to store and manipulate information. Working memory is essential for solving math problems , but when we are anxious , it gets occupied by worrying thoughts , leaving less space for math processing.

- Behaviourally: Maths anxiety can influence our behaviour towards maths , such as avoiding math classes , homework , tests , or careers , procrastinating , giving up , cheating , or rushing through math tasks.

- Emotionally: Maths anxiety can affect our mood and self-esteem , making us feel anxious , depressed , angry , hopeless , or helpless about maths.

- Socially: Maths anxiety can affect our relationships with others who are involved in our math learning , such as parents , teachers , classmates , friends , or employers . We may feel isolated , misunderstood , unsupported , or judged by them.

How can we overcome maths anxiety?

There is no quick fix for maths anxiety. It takes time and effort to change our mindset and habits towards maths. But it is possible and worthwhile. Here are some tips that can help you overcome your fear of maths:

- Acknowledge your feelings: The first step is to recognise and accept that you have maths anxiety and that it is normal and common. Don't be ashamed or embarrassed by it. Don't try to hide it or deny it. Instead , acknowledge your feelings and express them in healthy ways , such as talking to someone you trust , writing in a journal , or doing something relaxing.

- Challenge your beliefs: The next step is to challenge your negative beliefs about maths or yourself that may be causing or maintaining your maths anxiety. For example , if you think that maths is too hard for you , ask yourself : Is this really true? Have I ever done well in maths before? Can I learn from my mistakes? Can I improve with practice? If you think that you are not good at maths because you are not born with a math gene , ask yourself : Is this really true? Is there any scientific evidence for this? Do I have other skills or talents that I have developed over time? Can I develop my math skills too? Try to replace your negative beliefs with positive ones , such as Maths is challenging but interesting. I can do maths if I try hard enough. I can learn from my feedback. I can grow as a math learner. Maths is not a fixed ability that you are born with. It is a skill that you can develop with effort and practice.

- Seek help and support: Another step is to seek help and support from others who can help you with your math learning and anxiety. For example, you can ask your teacher for extra guidance, feedback, or resources. You can join a study group or a tutoring program with your classmates or peers. You can find online courses or videos that explain math concepts in different ways. You can also talk to your parents, friends, counsellors, or mentors about your feelings and challenges with maths. You are not alone in this journey. There are many people who care about you and want you to succeed.

- Practice and prepare: One of the best ways to overcome maths anxiety is to practice and prepare for math tasks and situations. The more you practice, the more confident and comfortable you will become with maths. You can practice by doing your homework regularly, reviewing your notes, solving different types of problems, checking your answers, and learning from your errors. You can also prepare by planning ahead for math tests or assignments, studying in advance, setting realistic goals, managing your time, and using effective study strategies. Practicing and preparing will help you reduce your stress and improve your performance.

- Relax and reward: The last step is to relax and reward yourself for your math efforts and achievements. Relaxing will help you calm your nerves and clear your mind before, during, and after math tasks. You can relax by doing some deep breathing, meditation, visualization, positive self-talk, or listening to music. Rewarding will help you motivate yourself and celebrate your progress and success with maths. You can reward yourself by doing something you enjoy, such as watching a movie, playing a game, eating a snack, or spending time with friends.

Conclusion

Maths anxiety is a common problem that affects many people around the world. It can have negative impacts on our physical, cognitive, emotional, social, and academic well-being. But maths anxiety can be overcome with the right strategies and resources. By acknowledging our feelings, challenging our beliefs, seeking help and support, practicing and preparing, relaxing and rewarding ourselves, we can change our mindset and habits towards maths. We can learn to enjoy maths as a fun and rewarding subject that can enrich our lives.

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