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Math Anxiety: Why does it happen?

Does your brain seem to stop working when you look at a math problem? Do not worry, it is very common. Scientists have been investigating this phenomenon from a neurological standpoint and they have found that certain emotional responses to math slows down processing efficiency, how fast you can understand something. So if you are predisposed to hate math, you may not be very good at it. They found that the pain center in our brain called the insula and the amygdala help to create math anxiety because they release hormones and neurotransmitters that lead to anxiety, cortisol and epinephrine. These findings allow for people to focus on the cause of their math anxiety rather than its effects.



Math anxiety provides people with a set of symptoms that hinder their performance and over time decreases their proficiency in day to day activities. Math anxiety includes having negative self talk, lack of motivation to improve in math, not studying on a regular basis, procrastinating math homework, feeling a sense of fear and unknowing in light of a math assessment, and instead of understanding and mastery of a math subject you rely on memorization; because of this anxiety, math processes seem to disappear when you need them.



Because math anxiety is a learned behavior and not an innate characteristic of an individual, it can be fixed or managed. Math anxiety is formed by a negative correlation to math which causes poor performance. This shows that it begins with attitude; if you have a negative attitude towards math, you will not perform or perform as well as you want. This can be applied to any subject. Next, math is a subject of practice. If you do not practice correctly, you will learn math incorrectly. A solution to form better practice habits is to learn what study methods work best for you. Options may include: one on one help from a math teacher, finding your own resources online to help explain math subjects in depth for better understanding, and asking for help when you need it.


Math's principles are things you will use for the rest of your life. If you have math anxiety, it will hinder your understanding of the world around you. Math anxiety can be coped with and managed, but it begins with you, and your desire to make a change.


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