Olivia Jordan

Technology and Performance Anxiety

In my previous posts, I explored what performance anxiety is, why it happens, what happens inside the brain when we experience it, and some of the strategies that can help manage it. However, not all strategies are readily accessible to everyone because of cost, the need for professional treatment, or the stigma surrounding anxiety. Fortunately, advances in technology have made some of these strategies more accessible and easier to use.

Some apps, such as iBreathe and Breathwrk, are designed to guide users through structured breathing exercises and relaxation techniques. They can help slow breathing and calm the body’s physical stress response. These tools can be especially useful when someone feels their heart racing or their body becoming tense before an important event. They are also relatively simple and accessible because they can be used almost anywhere. However, I noticed that most breathing apps are designed for general stress rather than performance anxiety specifically. They may help calm the body in the moment, but they do not necessarily address the thoughts and fears that caused the anxiety in the first place.

Apps such as Calm and Headspace take a different approach. They offer guided meditations, mindfulness exercises, and tools designed to improve stress management and emotional awareness. Regular mindfulness practice can help people become more aware of their thoughts and learn not to react automatically to them. I can see how that could be useful for performance anxiety, especially when overthinking becomes a problem. These apps are also generally designed for overall mental wellness, though. A person who is nervous five minutes before stepping onto the ice may need something more immediate and targeted than a general meditation session.

Another category is digital Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT. Online CBT platforms and teletherapy services can make psychological treatment more accessible to people who may not have a therapist or specialist nearby. This seems especially valuable because CBT can address the thoughts and behaviors that contribute to performance anxiety. However, therapy still requires time, motivation, and sometimes significant financial resources. Even an excellent online therapy program cannot necessarily provide immediate support during the moments when anxiety is at its strongest.

Performance anxiety involves both the mind and the body. Wearable technology, such as smartwatches and biometric sensors, can monitor physical signals such as heart rate and breathing patterns. These devices can tell us that something is happening in the body, but they may not understand why it is happening or what kind of support a person needs. Additionally, constantly watching the numbers could make some people even more anxious by causing them to focus too much on their physical symptoms.

Virtual reality, or VR, offers a completely different approach. Instead of simply imagining a stressful situation, VR can recreate experiences such as public speaking, performing, or competing in a controlled environment. This gives people an opportunity to practice facing situations that make them anxious while gradually becoming more comfortable with the experience. Repeated exposure may help the brain learn that a situation that feels threatening is not actually dangerous. The biggest challenge is accessibility. VR systems can require specialized equipment and may be too expensive or complicated for many people to use regularly.

There are also tools designed specifically for musicians and athletes. For example, Tonic allows musicians to practice performing for a live listening audience through the app, giving them an opportunity to become more comfortable with being heard by others in a lower-pressure setting. For athletes, apps such as Champion’s Mind and Mindset offer mental-skills training that can include breathing exercises, visualization, goal setting, and other techniques that can be incorporated into regular training. Some platforms, such as Rewire Fitness, go even further by combining physical, mental, and recovery information to help athletes understand their overall readiness. These tools seem much closer to what performers actually need because they are designed around the specific challenges of performing under pressure rather than focusing only on general stress or relaxation.

Most existing tools, though, seem to focus on one piece of the problem. Performance anxiety can involve physical symptoms, anxious thoughts, perfectionism, fear of judgment, past experiences, and environmental pressure, sometimes all at the same time. Additionally, each person’s experience with performance anxiety is unique. What helps one person may not work as well for another. This made me wonder whether a truly useful technology-based tool would need to provide personalized support before an event, during those critical moments when anxiety peaks, and afterward when someone is reflecting on what happened.

Instead of giving everyone the same exercise, an ideal technology could detect signs of anxiety, help identify what someone is struggling with, and provide personalized support during different stages of the experience. I don’t know yet what this tool might look like, or whether it is even possible to build. But researching performance anxiety has changed the way I understand my own experiences. I now know that I am not alone, that performance anxiety is influenced by many different factors, and that there are strategies and tools that can help people manage it. Maybe this is not the end of the story after all. Maybe there is something I could do in the future to help make that support more personalized, accessible, and useful for people experiencing performance anxiety.

Reflection Question: Have you ever used an app, wearable, or other technology to help manage stress or prepare for an important event? If you could design the ideal tool to help with performance anxiety, what would you want it to do?

References

The ideas in this article are based on published research in psychology, neuroscience, sports psychology, and performance science. The references below are provided for readers who would like to learn more.

1. Kenny, D. T. (2005). A systematic review of treatments for music performance anxiety. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping, 18(3), 183–208.
2. Zaccaro, A., Piarulli, A., Laurino, M., Garbella, E., Menicucci, D., Neri, B., & Gemignani, A. (2018). How breath-control can change your life: A systematic review on psycho-physiological correlates of slow breathing. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 12, 353.
3. Spahn, C. (2015). Treatment and prevention of music performance anxiety. Progress in Brain Research, 217, 129–140.
4. Ma, X., Lu, L., Luo, C., & Gao, Q. (2026). Digital age triggers: The role of social media evaluation in music performance anxiety. Frontiers in Psychology, 17, 1742379.
5. Nicholl, T. J., & Abbott, M. J. (2025). Treatments for performance anxiety in musicians across the lifespan: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychology of Music.