How to Overcome Math Anxiety

8 Ways to Beat Math Anxiety

Math gives most of us a lot of feelings, and few of them are the warm and fuzzy kind. If you have math anxiety, you are in good company. By some estimates, about one in five adults deals with it. It does not have to stay that way.

Dr. Nicola Petty runs Creative Maths, a New Zealand company built around helping students learn to love math. "There's been this culture in our countries that made disliking math, particularly for girls, seem socially OK," she says. "We tend to have a fixed mindset about math. We either have a math brain or we don't. It's just not true. There's no science to support it."

Math, especially dosage conversions, runs through all of nursing school. We asked Petty and a group of nursing students for tactics that actually work. Here are eight.

1. Tell Your Math Story

It sounds a little woo-woo, but Petty believes this is the most important step in getting past the trauma of your math history. Were you publicly humiliated for a wrong answer? Drilled with flashcards and a kitchen timer? Knowing where the anxiety came from matters. Petty says she has cried through plenty of these stories.

Identifying why you think you're not a math person is the first step to becoming one. "It's not your fault," Petty says. "I like to say, 'You were probably taught in a way that didn't suit you,' which takes the pressure off the teacher and off the student. The biggest message is: it's not your fault."

2. Find the Right Study Resources

Nursing students are especially fearful of dosage calculations, and for good reason: a lot rides on getting a dose right. Julie Festa, a 30-year-old nursing student at St. Vincent's College in Fairfield, Connecticut, has dealt with math anxiety her whole life. She says the calculations stop being scary once you find the right materials. "I learned to cope by being really proactive about it," she says. "I swear by a dosage calculation workbook. It gets me 90-plus on all my math exams. I recommend working through the entire book's practice questions during breaks between semesters if you can."

But Don't Overdo It

Justine Gonz-Alar, a BSN student at Chamberlain University, agrees that resources are essential but warns that too many work against you. "Look for resources that help you understand the topic or break it down enough for you to follow," she says, noting there are plenty of free resources online. "Too many in front of you does more harm than good, because you will get overwhelmed."

Petty, who has worked extensively with adult and nursing students, points out that schools teach these calculations, but checks, balances, and computers are all in place once you're on the job. "Don't feel fearful that you're going to kill somebody because you don't have good math skills," she says. "What you do need is a good idea of magnitude in terms of dosage," meaning you instantly know the difference between a microgram and a milligram.

3. Keep Practicing (and Practicing, and Practicing)

The old-school way of learning math was rote memorization and timed drills. Research shows that blindly memorizing facts and racing the clock can create unnecessary stress. Math fluency is more than how fast you can recall a fact.

Petty says practice is necessary, but focus on variety, not speed. Work through different kinds of problems, and don't just reread your class notes, which can give you the illusion of competence without the actual skill. Nursing student Marisa Hetland lives by this. "Practice, practice, practice," she says. "There's no way to beat the fear without doing a ton of practice problems to build your confidence."

4. Don't Wait Until It's Too Late

Math is cumulative. You build it like a brick house, from the foundation up. If you stay quiet when you don't understand the foundational lessons, you can't move on to the advanced ones. "Don't wait until you're so far behind that you're freaking out," Petty says. "If you feel like you're losing your place in class, get help right away. It usually points to underlying gaps that need filling."

And if a family tragedy or health issue once caused you to miss a stretch of school, don't beat yourself up over material you never got to see. Fill in the gaps and remember it's not your fault.

5. Have a Relaxation Strategy

Are you a talented baker? A chess player? Petty says identifying something you're consistently good at helps counter the feelings of inadequacy that come with learning, or relearning, math. "When you start to feel threatened, it helps to have a happy place to go back to, to put yourself back in a place of success," she says.

6. Don't Be Afraid of Your Mistakes

"The difference between the people who can do math and the people who can't is what they do when they make a mistake," Petty says. Too often she watches students throw up their hands, because someone who lacks confidence feels they have to give up. That teaches you nothing. Petty's approach is to look at her own mistakes with curiosity and ask, "Where did I go wrong?" Once you understand what caused the mistake, you're unlikely to repeat it.

7. Ask for Help When You Need It

Reaching out to classmates can feel awkward, especially online, but your cohort is one of the best resources you have, and not just for math. "You can support each other by asking questions and sharing how you're all doing," Gonz-Alar says. "You can remind each other when homework is due and share resources. You might even find a lifelong friend."

Tutors help too. Festa credits tutors with getting her past her math anxiety from elementary school through high school. Her nursing program, like most, offers peer tutors, a tutoring center, and instructors who hold open office hours.

Professors Are There to Help

If you're struggling with the material or need more time on an assignment, talk to your professor. "Asking for help is not a weakness," Gonz-Alar says. "It's hard to swallow your pride sometimes, but it's never wrong to seek help. That doesn't mean asking the professor for the answer. Ask what resources they recommend, or whether they can show you how to do something. They're there to support your success."

8. Know When to Take a Break

Sometimes the key to studying is knowing when to walk away, at least for a moment. "When you start feeling upset, take a break, go for a walk," Petty says. "When you start that spiral of 'I can't do this,' it fills your brain with bad stuff and you freeze. The very part of the brain we need to process math is the part our feelings freeze." If a lecture is sailing over your head, Petty recommends letting it pass. Expose your mind to it now without worrying about grasping every detail, and you avoid the fear-of-failure trap.

Adult Students Have an Edge

You don't have to learn everything the first time around. There's data showing that hearing something once makes it easier to learn when you revisit it later. Petty believes adults make the best students, despite the old line about old dogs and new tricks, because they're intentional about their learning.

Finally, remember how many people feel exactly the way you do about math. As Gonz-Alar puts it: "It's normal to feel anxious and overwhelmed at first, especially in a class you've never taken before. Take a breath."