7 out of 20, 3 over 10, 15 out of 50
– horrible test scores, isn’t it? Have you experienced the moment your teacher
gave you a test in math, and it made you like you wanted to cry? And as you
looked at the numbers, they were like monsters that may eat you alive anytime?
Personally, it happened to me, not once but numerous times already. I love math
but it doesn’t love me back. Dealing with numbers is my waterloo. Though I
dreamt of myself as a mathematician when I was still a little boy, it never
happened but I hope it will. How I wish I am one of those who have established
friendship with mathematics. However, even if I’m not good with numbers, I am
not afraid of them. But some people do.
I have been with people who find
math as a really difficult subject, and somehow, I consider myself as one of
them. These people got scared, felt dizzy, and sometimes, they even cry
whenever they were asked to solve for number or mathematical problems. As an
individual and engineering student, I really want to overcome this situation of
mine. And I know, all people who are suffering from it also do. Anyway, this
predicament of ours is considered as Arithmophobia – The Fear of Numbers.
There is an article entitled “Arithmophobia - Fear of Numbers” from fear.ezinemark.com by Trevor Johnson. According to the article written by
Johnson, Arithmophobia is the fear of numbers which make it greatly difficult
for many people under this condition, to cope and understand mathematics,
arithmetic, and logic easily. Since our brain is not made automatically
mathematically inclined, it is typical for us to get puzzled with these.
Arithmophobia do not focus on only one as a general, but it also hubs on a specific
number.
The author, Mr. Johnson, stated, “The fear of
numbers is a factor that makes had a lot harder for many people suffering from
it to learn mathematics and arithmetic properly. It is a condition where the
brain simply cannot get around a number of figures and becomes frustrated and
anxious because while they may want to achieve more, they find that there is a
hidden obstacle in the way and this is that irrational fear.”
The author also points out that the
fear of numbers is a type of dyslexia. “The problem is that arithmetic is all about logic and the
fundamental basic laws of the universe. Unfortunately, our brains are not
really meant to work in a particularly logical way of thinking so this can
leave us open potentially to a number of confusions and complications”
the author added. The main point Johnson wants to convey is that mathematics is
mainly about logic and analysis, and not all of us are focused or set up with a
logical mind. Hence, it is normal for us to get dither with mathematics. Also, arithmophobia causes anxiety associated
with numbers in general, or it may be a specific number like the mysterious
number 13.

Of course not all people cannot
diagnose whether they are suffering from this phobia or not. Most likely, they
thought that sweating copiously while carrying out a simple count, experiencing
nausea, dizziness, irregular heartbeat, panic, anxiety, and confusion are just
nothing but body irregularities, and they are not aware that they already
suffer from arithmophobia. But who encounters these symptoms more? Who are more
prone to artihmophobia, boys or girls?
In another article, written by Janet
Goertzen entitled "Overcoming Math Anxiety”.
She stated that there is a conviction that girls are more prone to number
anxiety than boys. This means, boys are naturally intact with ability in math,
and girls do not posses any. However, in conformity with the article by
Goertzen, another article from Science Daily contradicts to the idea that boys
are better at math and girls are more prone to artihmophobia. Affirmed also in
the article, girls do not perform well in mathematics because they are
pressured and informed that they are inherently not good with numbers.
Included in Goertzen’s article is
the study conducted by Sian Beilock, Associate Professor in
Psychology and the Committee on Education at the University of Chicago, the
lead author of a paper, "Female Teachers' Math Anxiety Affects Girls' Math
Achievement" and other co-authors, published in the January 11 issue of
the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, an expert on
anxiety and stress as they relate to learning and performance, states that “Having a highly
math-anxious female teacher may push girls to confirm the stereotype that they
are not as good as boys at math, which in turn, affects girls' math achievement.” This means that people around us also
contribute a lot in our development. Like what Beilock have stated, a teacher
claims that girls are really not as good as boys in math. In this case, it
seems like the teacher is pushing the female students to believe in the closure
that they aren’t as good as boys are, which made them demoralized. Thus it
results to low performances of the female students in math.
According to the study by Beilock, “Female elementary
school teachers who are anxious about math pass on to female students the
stereotype that boys, not girls, are good at math. Girls who endorse this
belief then do worse at math, research shows. The research found that boys'
math performance was not related to their teacher's math anxiety while girls'
math achievement was affected.”
There are a lot of possible reasons why artihmophobia develops in a person. It
might be caused by a traumatic experience and other negativities around which
resulted to this fear. Thus, people might not be really afraid of numbers, but
of the experience they had when dealing with numbers. This situation can happen
to all people of different sexual orientation. No matter what gender or sexual
orientation you have, if you really have arithmophobia, you really do. People
with fear of numbers are not determined through its gender, remember.
Basically, Mathematics, specifically
the numbers, is merely about logic. I can say that unfortunately, not all of us
were given a mathematically-inclined way of thinking. However, it is normal for
us to be confused and somehow encounter complications in manipulating numbers. We
are encountering numbers in our daily lives; it is part of it anyway. We were
born as a twin with numbers. Hence, we are the ones who are wretched if we will
not do anything to overcome this fear, for we cannot avoid numbers. Getting
into control of our fear and starting to do something to improve ourselves is
the most important pace in recuperating. It is not difficult to do, anyway, for
as long as we have the will to surmount this arithmophobia. For me, I still
have a little hope in my mind and a big will in my heart that tells me not to
stop finding a way to make friends with numbers. Hmm.. If only as easy as 1+1
is the issue then, most probably we will not find it hard to solve for numbers.
We will not be intimidated by numbers. On the other hand, I will always
remember that we should not be feared by numbers. Don’t let numbers control us,
we must control them instead. And you, if you want to surpass this fear of
yours, don’t let those monster numbers terrify you!
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