Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future. If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay.   - Thich Nhat Hanh 

Self-doubt and anxiety can trap us in restrictive, unproductive patterns of behavior. Mathematics requires insight, creativity, and precision, so distractors and stressors are particularly disruptive when you're studying math. Many people who are supposedly "bad at math" are really just fine with math itself, but have trouble with the social contexts of mathematics. 

There aren't any instant cures for our fears, but anxiety can fade over time through a combination of desensitization to stressors and accumulated positive experiences. As you work on new strategies to help you overcome the obstacles you're facing, recognize every bit of incremental progress and celebrate it!  Your internal dialogue should always be positive, assertive and motivating. Never let anyone - particularly yourself - tell you that you're silly to be stressed, or turn a triumph into another opportunity for criticism.

Here's some informal advice from a mathematician (with a lot of anxieties). We'll keep adding information over the summer, so check back now and then. If you have severe math anxiety, UCSC Counseling Services offers a variety of programs and services that can help you to succeed in your math courses.

Tender-handed stroke a nettle, and it stings you for your pains. Grasp it like a man of mettle, and it soft as silk remains.   - Aaron Hill, circa 1750

Recent research suggests that for people with math anxiety, anticipation of mathematical performance is more stressful than the actual performance.

ALEKS is a great tool for taming math avoidance. Since ALEKS is available 24/7, you can dive into a math problem-solving session at any time, do a few problems, and surface again. While you're fully immersed in the math, those treacherous, distracting doubts will be silent; when you come out of that level of concentration, recognize that you were focused and unstressed, even if only for a minute or two. That's progress and a good end to a session!

Keeping your study sessions short and sweet will make it easier to come back for the next session, so plan for lots of relatively brief study blocks, rather than a few long hauls. If you lose track of the time and suddenly realize you've been studying for hours, that's terrific! Just don't be late for work or a get-together with friends or family.

Many of the suggestions on the to do list of learning techniques may be things you'd really rather not do, but they'll get easier with practice. As you learn that it's thinking about doing those good deeds that's unpleasant, not the deeds themselves, you'll find that the rewards increase and the costs decrease. You probably won't notice your anxiety fading away; some day you'll just realize that it's gone.