OVERCOME PERFORMANCE ANXIETY

Nerves can hold you back from your goals, but facing work-related anxiety is key to beating it

- Akshita Nanda Correspondent

When you need to speak up at important meetings, does your heart race so much that you cannot participate? Do you seize new opportunities at work or do you fear fumbling the ball?

If work-related nerves are affecting your ability to function at your best, then you could have performance anxiety.

Psychologists tell The Straits Times that performance anxiety is common even among adults seemingly at the top of their game, including top executives, performing artistes and athletes.

Performance anxiety affects about 10 per cent of the clients at Heartscape Psychology, according to its director, clinical psychologist Liew Shi Min.

Their anxiety is below the clinical threshold for an anxiety disorder, but it still holds them back. “They might avoid opportunities, downplay their abilities or struggle to feel at ease even when they are well prepared,” she says.

Mr Muhammad Haikal Jamil, senior clinical psychologist and founder of ImPossible Psychological Services, works with competitive athletes whose performance anxiety affects their ability to perform during competitions. “They also worry a lot about the negative outcomes that may occur and lose the motivation to train,” he says.

A study published in the Singapore Medical Journal in August found that 18 per cent of national athletes experienced moderate to severe anxiety and 70 per cent experienced athlete-specific psychological strain.