1 The consequences of maths anxiety

You may respond to maths anxiety in three main ways: physical symptoms, procrastination and avoidance. You may demonstrate some, or all of these responses, and it may change over time.

Identifying physical symptoms of maths anxiety may be straightforward, but they can be subtle. If someone experiences immediate symptoms such as sweaty palms, increased heart rate and palpitations or tense muscles from panicking, these are symptoms that can probably be quickly associated with the maths tasks they are doing. However, there may be more vague long-term physical symptoms such as tiredness, insomnia, headaches and other pain-related problems that could be related to repeated stress from maths anxiety (Alvaro, Roberts and Harris, 2013; Lyons and Beilock, 2012).

If someone has experienced any unpleasant physical symptoms due to maths anxiety it is natural for them to start avoiding situations that involve maths. This could be in everyday life or situations where they are studying a subject that includes maths. They may only avoid specific types of maths or display other signs of undermining behaviours.

Individuals may find that they are not avoiding maths but displaying undermining behaviours, such as procrastination due to anxiety (Luttenberger, Wimmer and Paechter, 2018). They are then left with not enough time left to tackle a maths question to the best of their ability and are unintentionally setting themselves up to do badly with maths.