What is math anxiety?
No matter the age, there's one school subject that just doesn't add up for many people, and trying to solve it can bring nerves and even fear.
Balancing weights, measuring steps and stacking blocks are activities in the Math Moves exhibit at the Science Museum of Minnesota that make the subject fun. "Fun," however, is not the word some might use to describe math, instead favoring words like stressful, annoying or difficult.
What is math anxiety?
Liz Hatfield, a teaching specialist at the University of Minnesota Morris, has held workshops to help people work through math anxiety.
"Math anxiety is just a persistent, negative emotional reaction to situations where math is involved or just perceived to be involved," Hatfield said.
Math anxiety can make people panic, increase their heart rate and struggle to think even when they know how to solve the math problem in question. The anxiety impacts their working memory, making it difficult to remember how to do an equation.
In the U.S., about 93% percent of adults say they have some level of math anxiety, according to the National Institute of Health. It can be a cyclical problem.
"If you have a negative experience with math, you may want to avoid it. And you go into your coursework unprepared then because you've avoided it and that leads to poor performance. And when you have poor performance, it makes you more anxious," Hatfield said.
If someone has math anxiety, does that mean they're bad at math or just anxious?
"It doesn't necessarily mean someone's bad at math. High math achievers can still have high levels of math anxiety," Hatfield said.
Vanessa Clark, an accountant, falls into that category.
"Especially when I'm doing accounting, it makes the math anxiety even worse because I'm doing books and if I mess up, it could cost our business a lot of money," she said.
The stressful feeling can also be contagious.
"Math anxiety can to some extent be passed from math-anxious adults, parents and teachers," Hatfield said, adding that elementary teachers can have math anxiety. "And their female students in particular will pick up on that."
How can someone overcome math anxiety?
Taking a brain break helps Clark.
"I step away for a few minutes and I come back to it with a fresh set of eyes," she said.
Breathing techniques can calm someone down, but Hatfield says a mindset shift that embraces math as a fun challenge is key.
"Being good at math is not defined by quick mental math. It's defined by persistence, and struggle, and growth and curiosity," Hatfield said.
Other tips for parents include celebrating their child's progress and growth. They can also show how math is used in positive ways like sports or hobbies.
