Self-Esteem and Anxiety About Sexuality and Eating Disorders
Anyone who plays sports has likely experienced anxiety at some point, either as a substitute for performance anxiety or, in worse cases, as a full-blown attack. However, with self-awareness and their minds still developing, sports really can be especially stressful on children’s minds. Anxiety from school can lead to a less-than-optimal performance by a sport’s best athletes, as well as a negative attitude toward the sport in general. And, even if children do not have anxiety disorders, they are at increased risk for behavioral problems as well as school dropout rates that are significantly higher than normal.
Anxiety from school
Anxiety from school can stem from a number of causes. In many cases, poor performance during sports events is the result of low self-esteem and low confidence in ones’ abilities. Other possible causes are performance anxiety caused by social pressures or peer pressure, or even anxiety before a big athletic event. No matter what the cause, the fact remains that anxiety can reduce a child’s performance in any given sports event or situation.
Sexual related anxiety
Sexual performance anxiety is not, however, related to performance but to fear. It is a form of stress related to sexuality that is a product of one’s particular cultural heritage. Many people who experience anxiety about sexual performance have no sexual fantasy; others may fantasize but feel repressed or uncomfortable in expressing these desires and/or unable to act on them because of the anxiety. For example, a young girl who does not feel she looks attractive enough to the outside world may develop stress from her weight, her appearance or her body image; these things, combined with her anxiety about her sexual activity, can lead to negative sexual performance and the resulting lower grades and/or lack of success with girls in her peer group.
Work performance anxiety
Work performance anxiety, unlike performance anxiety is related to an issue within the work domain. While many believe that all concerns with work performance are domain specific and therefore unimportant, research demonstrates that in many cases (e.g., high levels of organizational stress), domain specific concerns can actually lead to greater performance problems than concerns that do not pertain to work (e.g., job dissatisfaction). In other words, although there may be domain specific issues within sports, academic or clinical settings, performance issues can also arise within non-domain focused domains. Therefore, if we are to understand anxiety as a complex emotional process that can cross domains and operate across domains; it would behoove researchers to understand that performance anxiety is indeed a domain specific issue.
Anxiety about sexuality
Anxiety about sexuality can come from internal (inner) sources such as feelings of guilt, fear of being rejected or inferior, or it can come from external sources such as performance fears about sports, intimacy in a relationship, or social situations that are perceived to be related to sexuality. The anxiety can take many forms; some of these include feelings of embarrassment, shame, guilt, humiliation, powerlessness or incompetence. The majority of people with anxiety about sexuality do not experience these feelings at a conscious level, but they often feel them when their performance in these domains is threatened. This type of anxiety can manifest itself in myriad ways, such as performance anxiety about sexuality during athletic events or moments of sexuality, excessive self-consciousness about sexual performance, avoidance of sexuality and the rejection of one’s own sexuality by others.
Anxiety about sexuality is often thought of as a specific problem within the eating disorder and/or weight-loss domain. However, the anxiety can also occur separately from eating disorders and/or weight loss and is a very real concern for many people who are obese or suffering from obesity. When the person experiences anxiety about their sexuality they may suffer from low self-esteem because of the interplay between their body image and feelings of worth. People who are obese may have a negative perception of themselves and what they look like. Many obese people will seek help with self-esteem issues, including through psychological therapy.
