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Performance Anxiety

By: Jacob Felts

Performance anxiety is experienced by a large number of people. There can be different reasons of anxiety. Anxiety may be due to some big reason or some small reason. Anxiety can result if you are worried about your performance. A true
Psychological disorder or just a small twinge can be the outcome of performance anxiety.

Symptoms

Performance anxiety is quite a common phenomenon. More or less everyone has undergone performance anxiety in his or her lifetime. The common symptoms one faces during performance anxiety is usually damp hands, a feeling of fear in the pit of stomach, cramps, sweating, and nausea are just a few of them. As a result of anxiety one tends to become more nervous and jittery since anxiety leads to fear.

Hesitant to perform upon being called is a chief symptom of performance anxiety. For example when you are reluctant to accept a promotion or participate in some activity in fear of possible humiliation. If you feel your performance is taking a toll on yourself then you might as well seek some professional help.

Coping and Treatment

If your Performance Anxiety is bothering you, there are ways of coping. For people who have manageable anxiety levels, simply socializing more and performing more can help to alleviate or make your fear and anxiety disappear, as you become familiar with performing and it becomes no longer a feared unknown. There are also organizations like Toastmasters International that can help you improve your public speaking so that if your anxiety was linked to your inexperience with speaking in front of groups, then you can learn the techniques that will help you excel at it.

Glossophobia is that stage when your performance anxiety has reached to an unmanageable stage. It is derived from the Greek words glosso- meaning tongue, and -phobia, meaning fear or dread. If you are a victim of glossophoboia then it is recommended that you take professional help. That way your actual condition will be assessed properly and the professional helper can guide you towards the most suitable course of action. The best treatments may be common medications like Valium, Xanax, Celexa, Zoloft, and Paxil or therapy like cognitive behavioral therapy. In this type of therapy the patient undergoes counseling with the health professional. Even if your performance anxiety has to reached to an advanced stage, treatments like medications and therapies always help.

Causes

No solid reason for experiencing Performance anxiety has been presented by the psychological community. Many people can suffer from Performance anxiety owing to some past experiences. One may suffer from performance anxiety out of the fear of the real life situation. Anxiety can be hereditary as well or it may be caused due to chemical imbalances. Only after you find out the actual reason to your anxiety you can be cured completely. Undergoing treatments medication and therapy, research has showed that many people suffering from performance anxiety disorders have been cured within a short period of time. There may be many people who don't have a serious anxiety problem can take help from non profit organizations like Toast masters International which are established for helping people.

Author Bio
Jacob Felts is the author of http://www.anxietycure.org - Learn about anxiety and chest pain here.

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