Symptons of Math Anxiety

Symptoms 

Most students experience a certain degree of math anxiety at some point during their school careers. Read on to learn more about what causes math anxiety, and the way that math anxiety can manifest itself.

Math anxiety is a feeling of frustration about the inability to perform mathematical functions. Students experience such anxiety in varying levels of intensity but for some, simply going to a math class can be a challenges. Even home schooled students can experience this anxiety.

Symptoms

There are four symptoms that are most common: panic, paranoia, passive behavior, and lack of confidence.

• Panic: The student or adult has a feeling of helplessness that will not go away. It feels like a wave of terror has washed over their body.
• Paranoia: The student or adult thinks they are the only person not capable of completing the math, even if it is a very complicated math such as calculus.
• Passive Behavior: The student or adult decides they will never understand or be comfortable with math, so they actively decide they will do nothing about their problem.
• Lack of Confidence: The student or adult anticipate the feeling of helplessness and expect to never know the answer to the problem. They also second guess their math work. They rely on other people in their life to help them complete math functions such as balancing their checkbook.

Since math anxiety does produce real symptoms and emotions within people, it is important for parents to distinguish these characteristics within their children when they happen and to recognize their child is experiencing math anxiety.

Many students and adults do not understand why they experience math anxiety. They automatically assume that it is because they are unintelligent or were born without a talent for mathematics. This simply is not true. Even the most accomplished mathematicians and college level professors sometimes experience symptoms related to math anxiety.