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| Photo by Rick Hustead |
Performance anxiety, or the fear of performing some task or behavior in
front of other people, is a common phenomenon. Indeed, a majority of my
hypnotherapy practice centers on helping clients overcome performance anxiety
to some extent. Whether the person wants to increase confidence to speak or play
an instrument in public, or overcome a “nervous stomach” before taking the field
at a big game or horse show, performance anxiety is the culprit. Many people who
come in to quit a tobacco habit or lose weight are initially surprised to learn
that smoking/chewing tobacco or over-eating are replacement behaviors their
subconscious mind uses to repress or stuff down this anxiety.
What if the source of your performance anxiety has less to do with the
specific activity you are about to do and is more about being evaluated for
that performance? In her book titled The
Power of the Herd, A Nonpredatory
Approach to Social Intelligence, Leadership, and Innovation1, Linda Kohanov theorizes that the source of this stress has more to do with the
evaluation than the task. The Eponaquest, LLC founder calls this phenomenon “evaluation apprehension,” and
describes various physiological symptoms of anxiety that we associate with
performance anxiety including increased blood pressure and pulse/heart-rate and
rapid speech pattern. Above all else is that overwhelming fear that everyone in
the room is hyper-critical of and negatively rating everything we do. She even
explains that the most deleterious effect of evaluation apprehension is the way
it inhibits our desire to learn or try something new for fear of receiving this
negative response from others.
When I read Kohanov’s take on performance anxiety, her concept of
evaluation apprehension being the cause of this phenomenon really resonated
with me. For example, it seems incongruous to hear that our favorite actor or
dancer experiences severe “stage fright” before each performance despite having
received the highest accolades for his or her work. What do they have to be afraid of when they have won every award there
is for what they do? And yet, time and again they insist how much easier
and preferable it is to do the work than to see the movie or a video of the
performance, hear or read reviews about it later.
Her recognition of the “fear of the unknown” as a source of a person’s
anxiety to try something new also dovetails with the Theory of Mind2
that John Kappas, Ph.D., referenced in
so much of his hypnotherapy work. According to the Hypnosis
Motivation Institute founder, the subconscious part of the mind is
uncomfortable about and resistant to doing new or different things even when
the conscious mind (logic, reason, will-power/free-will and reasoning) says
that it’s okay to do so. This resistance comes from the “knowns” (familiar
stimuli) and that subconscious mental script we all carry around to protect us
from real and perceived threats. If you have a subconscious mental script that
keeps reinforcing the message that everyone really is judging and evaluating you—and
you believe that this judgment is negative—of course you will avoid that
situation at all costs. Since the subconscious mind works on expectation
and imagination, over time, we learn to expect others to respond to and
interact with us in a particular way based on that previous experience.
With
that in mind, I would suggest looking at the phenomenon of performance anxiety
in the context of “evaluation apprehension.” In fact, I really already do that
in my hypnotherapy practice as I teach clients various breathing techniques to
increase their relaxation and imagery exercises so they can focus on all the
things that can and will go right during the task. I also encourage clients to
use memories of positive experiences/outcomes in similar situations to increase
their self-confidence and self-esteem. Ultimately, when we are confident and
relaxed doing the behavior, it is easier and even enjoyable to do the task and
not even think about, let alone worry, what other people may think about our
performance.
1.
Kohanov,
Linda. The Power of the Herd: A
Nonpredatory Approach to Social Intelligence, Leadership, and Innovation.
New World Library: Novato, California. 2013. pp. 188-189
2.
Kappas,
Ph.D., John G. Professional Hypnotism
Manual: A Practical Approach for Modern Times (4th Edition).
Panorama Publishing Company: Tarzana, CA. 2001. pp. 10-13
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