Performance Anxiety

Written By Colleen Collins

Have you ever felt those butterflies in your stomach before you perform or before a competition? These are physical symptoms often associated with performance anxiety. Performance anxiety may present itself when we have a fear in our ability to perform a task. Performance anxiety is not a formal diagnosis; many people may experience some anxiety before a performance. However, too much anxiety can interfere with and inhibit performance.

Symptoms of performance anxiety might look like,

  • “Butterflies” in the stomach or Nausea

  • Increased Heart rate

  • Increased or rapid breathing rate

  • Trembling

  • Sweating

  • Muscle Tension

  • Bathroom problems

  • Fear of failure

  • Overthinking

  • Lowered self-confidence

Have you ever had the “nervous pee” before a competition? That’s because when we are experiencing anxiety our body is in fight or flight mode which speeds up our digestion and may cause gastrointestinal distress. A recent study by Wilson and colleagues (2020) found that endurance athletes with high levels of anxiety before a race experienced GI issues such as nausea, reflux, and cramping.

What can Performance anxiety lead to?

  • Lashing out. Expressing our worries through anger

  • Poor performance. Not being able to perform your best

  • Self-sabotage. Consciously or unconsciously not preparing properly

  • Self-fulfilling prophecy. What you are focusing on will most likely happen.

What contributes to performance anxiety?

  • Fear of failure

  • Self-doubt

  • Unrealistic expectations

  • Perfectionism

  • Non-optimal levels of arousal

What are some Coping tools for performance anxiety?

  • Prepare. Practice the way you want to compete.

  • Reappraise arousal, finding the excitement rather than the  anxiety.

  • Cognitive reframing. Identifying negative thoughts, challenging them and creating more balanced thoughts.

  • Positive self-talk

  • Relaxation techniques

  • Mindfulness

  • Social Support

  • CBT and/or ACT therapy with a therapist

As a therapist I use Cognitive Behavioural (CBT) interventions as well as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) techniques to assist individuals that are experiencing performance anxiety. I often work with athletes, musicians, and presenters.

References

Brooks, A. W. (2014). Get excited: Reappraising pre-performance anxiety as excitement. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143(3), 1144–1158. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035325

Gillette, H. (2022, April 25). How to stop the cycle of performance anxiety. Psych Central. https://psychcentral.com/health/how-to-break-the-cycle-of-performance-anxiety

Hirsch, K., & Stern, J. (2018, May). AASP newsletter - May 2018. | Association for Applied Sport Psychology. https://appliedsportpsych.org/members/newsletters/may-2018/young-writers-corner-ywc

Kang, H., & Jang, S. (2018). Effects of competition anxiety on self-confidence in soccer players: Modulation effects of home and away games. Journal of Men’s Health, 14(3), 62. https://doi.org/10.22374/1875-6859.14.3.9

Kang, H., & Jang, S. (2021). Self- and relative effects of competitive state anxiety on perceived performance in middle and High School Taekwondo Athletes: An actor and partner Interdependence Model Analysis. Iranian Journal of Public Health. https://doi.org/10.18502/ijph.v50i6.6415

 Kremer, J., Moran, A. P., & Kearney, C. J. (2019). Pure sport: Practical sport psychology. Routledge.

Marks, H. (2021, November). Overcoming performance anxiety in music, acting, sports, and more. WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/stage-fright-performance-anxiety

Patrick B. Wilson, Hayley Russell & Jamie Pugh (2021) Anxiety may be a risk factor for experiencing gastrointestinal symptoms during endurance races: An observational study. European Journal of Sport Science, 21:3, 421-427, DOI: 10.1080/17461391.2020.1746836

Pelka, M., Kölling, S., Ferrauti, A., Meyer, T., Pfeiffer, M., & Kellmann, M. (2016). Acute effects of psychological relaxation techniques between two physical tasks. Journal of Sports Sciences, 35(3), 216–223. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2016.1161208

Rowland, D. L., Moyle, G., & Cooper, S. E. (2021). Remediation strategies for performance anxiety across sex, sport and stage: Identifying common approaches and a unified cognitive model. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(19), 10160. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph181910160

Walter, N., Nikoleizig, L., & Alfermann, D. (2019). Effects of self-talk training on competitive anxiety, self-efficacy, volitional skills, and performance: An intervention study with junior sub-elite athletes. Sports, 7(6), 148. https://doi.org/10.3390/sports7060148

Colleen Collins
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