• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 07:36
CEST 13:36
KST 20:36
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
Classic Games #3: Rogue vs Serral at BlizzCon9[ASL20] Ro16 Preview Pt1: Ascent10Maestros of the Game: Week 1/Play-in Preview12[ASL20] Ro24 Preview Pt2: Take-Off7[ASL20] Ro24 Preview Pt1: Runway13
Community News
SC4ALL $6,000 Open LAN in Philadelphia7Weekly Cups (Sept 1-7): MaxPax rebounds & Clem saga continues26LiuLi Cup - September 2025 Tournaments3Weekly Cups (August 25-31): Clem's Last Straw?39Weekly Cups (Aug 18-24): herO dethrones MaxPax6
StarCraft 2
General
Weekly Cups (Sept 1-7): MaxPax rebounds & Clem saga continues #1: Maru - Greatest Players of All Time Team Liquid Map Contest #21 - Presented by Monster Energy Classic Games #3: Rogue vs Serral at BlizzCon What happened to Singapore/Brazil servers?
Tourneys
WardiTV TL Team Map Contest #5 Tournaments Maestros of The Game—$20k event w/ live finals in Paris RSL: Revival, a new crowdfunded tournament series Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament SC4ALL $6,000 Open LAN in Philadelphia
Strategy
Custom Maps
External Content
Mutation # 490 Masters of Midnight Mutation # 489 Bannable Offense Mutation # 488 What Goes Around Mutation # 487 Think Fast
Brood War
General
Pros React To: SoulKey's 5-Peat Challenge ASL20 General Discussion BW General Discussion BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BSL Team Wars - Bonyth, Dewalt, Hawk & Sziky teams
Tourneys
[ASL20] Ro16 Group B [ASL20] Ro16 Group A [Megathread] Daily Proleagues SC4ALL $1,500 Open Bracket LAN
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Muta micro map competition Fighting Spirit mining rates [G] Mineral Boosting
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Borderlands 3 Path of Exile General RTS Discussion Thread
Dota 2
LiquidDota to reintegrate into TL.net Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine The Games Industry And ATVI UK Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The Happy Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion MLB/Baseball 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Linksys AE2500 USB WIFI keeps disconnecting Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread High temperatures on bridge(s)
TL Community
BarCraft in Tokyo Japan for ASL Season5 Final The Automated Ban List
Blogs
The Personality of a Spender…
TrAiDoS
A very expensive lesson on ma…
Garnet
hello world
radishsoup
Lemme tell you a thing o…
JoinTheRain
RTS Design in Hypercoven
a11
Evil Gacha Games and the…
ffswowsucks
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1482 users

Psych approach to ladder anxiety - Page 5

Forum Index > SC2 General
Post a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 17 18 19 Next All
partysnatcher
Profile Joined August 2010
156 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-12-22 08:56:51
December 22 2011 08:44 GMT
#81
On December 22 2011 08:55 docvoc wrote:
Great job, though the Schachter and Singer experiment was a bit crack since they did it poorly. Anyways, i should have done something like this with my background because this was an amazing read. I especially like you using the appraisal theory since a lot of people don't know about it and how it really does affect most of SC2. One critique would be for you to talk about general management of losses when it comes to loss streaks since that really does hurt the ego. Finally it was very smart of you to talk about how and why SC2 tends to be so full on and why its less casual for most than LoL or CS:S/1.6. GJ dude


Thanks! I don't recall all the critiques against Schachter-Singer, but these affect-attribution experiments have been repeated with much success in the last 50 years, and S-S seems to be included among supporting / pioneering evidence in current affect research.

I completely agree that losing and how that changes people is very interesting for gaming, but I guess I would have to go outside the "ladder anxiety"-scope.
Can I ask what your background is? I don't doubt your credentials, but you piqued my curiosity!


On December 22 2011 13:07 stokes17 wrote:
you gave a large discussion of appraisals to describe what is basically a Jonah Complex, doubting one's own abilities and competency, or fear of failure.

Ladder anxiety=fear of failure


I agree completely that focus on mastery / redefining what failure is, to reduce your fear of failure, should be part of a "ladder anxiety" therapy. I tried to cover that through "current skill". For me, it seems to be people's too high expectations of "current skill" that result in a too strict perception of what failure is. (one loss = failure)

But there are also, in my opinion, other appraisal factors at work here that don't need "fear of failure":
1) fear of adrenaline
2) misappraising the effect of an SC2-loss on their ego / social status
3) misappraising the social situation of 1v1 as an aggression/threat situation (ref Mr. Black's post about good manners having a calming effect).

On December 22 2011 13:15 Synwave wrote:
Are people really replying to this with "great science" and "really good to see a scientific approach" to this?

This isn't science. Common sense perhaps and certainly observationally biased, but science?


I agree. This is an advice article based on my knowledge of SC2/gaming and cognitive/behavioral therapy. Although the methods and theories behind it have a fairly solid scientific basis, the OP article would not hold up as a formal psychology article, it lacks citations and empirical evidence on how this applies to SC2. It's a bit more like a "self-help" article, so take it for what it is.
xsksc
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
United Kingdom1044 Posts
December 22 2011 08:48 GMT
#82
Good read! I'll link this to a friend of mine who refuses to 1v1 ladder because of anxiety.
Mesha
Profile Blog Joined January 2010
Bosnia-Herzegovina439 Posts
December 22 2011 08:50 GMT
#83
Finally not a bullshit anxiety thread. Well done sir, this thread will hopefully stop this kind of threads because it really explains it all. Really good write up.
Reality hits you hard bro.
pRo9aMeR
Profile Blog Joined September 2008
595 Posts
December 22 2011 10:55 GMT
#84
i really like it! It's great to read explanations on what's happening in our bodies when we play in hopes of controlling it or at least understanding it!
In training...let's play, gg! d^..^b
Gladiator6
Profile Joined June 2010
Sweden7024 Posts
December 22 2011 11:20 GMT
#85
Learn from White-Ra and your ladder experience will be so much better!!!

OT: It looks solid for those in need.
Flying, sOs, free, Light, Soulkey & ZerO
imPermanenCe
Profile Joined July 2011
Netherlands595 Posts
December 22 2011 11:29 GMT
#86
On December 22 2011 04:23 FADCoUltra wrote:
Great write up. I suffer from Ladder Anxiety a lot. Like many people described, just really have to pull out every last bit of will power to click that "Find Game" button.

I'm doing a lot better now that I convinced myself to practice new builds on ladder instead of AI, and don't take losses that serious anymore.

But know I have a problem where as soon as I win a game, I don't want to play anymore so I can keep the up feeling from the win and not feel the downs from another loss. It seriously cuts into my game count. Trying to force myself to play a certain number of game a day, no matter win or lose. But still, as soon as I won a game, could be my very first game in a day, I just feel like quit on the high note.

Edit: I actually don't feel too discourage about losing now. It's just immediately feel like stopping after I won a game. Anyone else experiencing this as well?

I got the same, if I lose I must keep playing. Cuz no matter what, I have to end the day with a win! When I finally have that win, I'm satisfied and stop.
Micro at its best is like an elegant dance between two people trying to achieve a similar end.
Sablar
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
Sweden880 Posts
December 22 2011 13:52 GMT
#87
I know you didn't ask me, but S-S emotion theory has some problems. Of course everything is criticized but there are some pretty big questions raised for this theory in particular. Might be newer evidence but the shaky evidence was also something I heard from my professor. "Reducing fear by knowing about adrenaline" (aren't there more factors there?) wasn't replicated but few studies like this has been done.

That said I think it's a smart move to consider feedback from arousal in the experience of emotion, and that there is a relationship between bodily changes, appraisal and emotion is clear. Also being informed about what bodily changes to expect and how to deal with it could very well be effective anyway and it's quite different from a list of side effects in an experimental setting.

http://www-alt.uni-greifswald.de/~psycho/allge2/Reisenzein/Publications/Reisenzein1983_Schachter_Theory.pdf

Also I like the book "Understanding Emotions".
Raana
Profile Joined June 2011
Finland2 Posts
December 22 2011 15:57 GMT
#88
Hi partysnatcher. I want to ask one thing. Does any kind of or certain type of music reduce ladder anxiety? Im certainly 1 of tons ppl who suffer ladder anxiety.
Im in bronze league.. so what? trying my best. :3
partysnatcher
Profile Joined August 2010
156 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-12-22 16:26:15
December 22 2011 16:14 GMT
#89
On December 22 2011 22:52 Sablar wrote:
I know you didn't ask me, but S-S emotion theory has some problems. Of course everything is criticized but there are some pretty big questions raised for this theory in particular. Might be newer evidence but the shaky evidence was also something I heard from my professor. "Reducing fear by knowing about adrenaline" (aren't there more factors there?) wasn't replicated but few studies like this has been done.

That said I think it's a smart move to consider feedback from arousal in the experience of emotion, and that there is a relationship between bodily changes, appraisal and emotion is clear. Also being informed about what bodily changes to expect and how to deal with it could very well be effective anyway and it's quite different from a list of side effects in an experimental setting.

http://www-alt.uni-greifswald.de/~psycho/allge2/Reisenzein/Publications/Reisenzein1983_Schachter_Theory.pdf

Also I like the book "Understanding Emotions".


Thanks for the input and reading material!

Schachter-Singers theory wasn't so relevant for my example, just their experiment (your Reisenzein-article seems to approve the causality I implied, but disapprove of other aspects). I based myself on modern affect research, where there are many other examples of how re-attribution change our feelings, like Clore & Schwarz' (1983) rainy day experiment. I picked S-S because of their use of epinephrine/adrenaline, which applies more to SC2.

This aside, my impression is that adrenaline in general is a bit difficult for someone sitting in a chair in front of a PC, to make sense of, and I think the sensation of just "waiting" fixed in front of a screen with adrenaline pumping, for many, is scary in itself. So I think whether we "think we fear" (S-S, Lazarus etc) or whether adrenaline is just a bit too intense on it's own, nevertheless it is helpful to understand where adrenaline is coming from and what it is doing, and to promote habituation rather than sensitization to adrenaline.

Some notes on Reisenzeins 1983 article vs modern affect theory;
Reisenzein here has issues with S-S' labeling concept and says there is no evidence that a calm body will make fear impossible. Modern affect theory agrees and disagrees. The "labeling" of S-S would be called "attribution", so that is still considered valid. As for calm body inhibiting fear, LeDoux has suggested a dual route interactive system where both excitation and inhibition of emotion can be elicited from several levels (PNS, conditioning and cognition). In other words, the fear-quelching phenomenon in S-S theory could apply for certain scenarios, but the demand of body+cognition is not valid.

Thanks for a good post!
aintz
Profile Joined August 2010
Canada5624 Posts
December 22 2011 16:17 GMT
#90
wow sc2 has become serious business with all these hardcore threads.
partysnatcher
Profile Joined August 2010
156 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-12-22 16:27:44
December 22 2011 16:23 GMT
#91
On December 23 2011 00:57 Raana wrote:
Hi partysnatcher. I want to ask one thing. Does any kind of or certain type of music reduce ladder anxiety? Im certainly 1 of tons ppl who suffer ladder anxiety.


Different music does different stuff to different people. Energetic music, soothing music, humorous music and very familiar, "safe" music could all have beneficial effects. Experiment. Try different music out and feel if the different styles affect you, rate their soothing affect on your anxiety from 1-10.

Experiments in general are good just by being experiments, they let you study your own problem "from the outside" and will give you a feeling of control.
tossuaway
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
United States107 Posts
December 22 2011 16:51 GMT
#92
Yea, this write up was fabulous. I always see the damn "ladder anxiety hurting E-sports" thread and usually just see people present problems, this post finally is proposing some easy and effective anxiety reducing techniques and describes why we feel the pressure we do, again, great write up.
Ben...
Profile Joined January 2011
Canada3485 Posts
December 22 2011 16:53 GMT
#93
I really liked that write up. It exactly depicts what I used to get when I played ladder. I've never got sweaty palms but instead I've got really cold hands, even when it's relatively warm in the area around me.

I've got good at dealing with the adrenaline aspect. I used to get quick pumped up for my first couple games then completely burn out after that but now I can play at the same level of energy for each game. I also normally work out before I play in the morning so that deals with a lot of the adrenaline stuff. I play way better after I exercise; my mind feels clearer and my hands feel better for control, which when I'm not fully awake I play way slower and less precise.
"Cliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide" -Tastosis
MasterVelVet
Profile Joined August 2010
Belgium132 Posts
December 22 2011 17:04 GMT
#94
Wow great info, thanks !
HaruRH
Profile Blog Joined August 2011
Singapore2780 Posts
December 22 2011 17:13 GMT
#95
Things work way different for me. I fear the ladder because when I start hitting up on the ladder, the fear of losing pumps me up so much that I can't stop playing till I start losing focus. (10~20 games later...) Any idea what is this?
It is fucking D4 and you are still alive as a CONFIRMED FUCKING TOWN. This is how fucking terrible scum thinks you are - Koshi
wellAdjusted
Profile Joined June 2011
United Kingdom65 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-12-22 17:31:19
December 22 2011 17:27 GMT
#96
On December 22 2011 04:19 kenkou wrote:
One thing about the adrenaline that bothers me ALOT is my hands and feet getting ridiculously cold. I know its a bodily instinct to the rush, but will it ever go away if you can control adrenaline? I've been researching on ways to keep those parts of my body warm during/after games, but i'm still stumped. I really hope that whenever I can get my adrenaline under control, that it will fix itself.



Do a few pushups or squeeze something real hard. You feel cold because less blood gets to the extremeties, so counter it by getting it flowing again.

ETA; Make sure you breath properly. Sounds silly but you'd be surprised at how shallow you're breath can get when you're anxious.
"Rock is imba, but paper is ok..." - Scissors
tskarzyn
Profile Joined July 2010
United States516 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-12-22 17:36:54
December 22 2011 17:36 GMT
#97
It's unfortunate that people can't sit down and play a computer game without getting anxious. It's almost as if their entire perspectives or grounding in reality have been severed. Life can be difficult and stressful- managing relationships, pressure to do well in school, job related stress, financial stress for many. It blows my mind that someone can sit down and play a video game and experience anger, frustration, fear, anxiety, and other emotions that really don't have any place in a frivolous hobby.

I can't tell you to stop being childish, but if you really want to face your fear- purposely lose the next 10 or 15 games. Just fire em up and instantly quit. Or (and i've done this because I get a kick out my opponents' reactions), play out a game for 30 minutes. Let yourself become invested in the outcome. And, if you are about to win, leave the game.

The ladder system is meaningless and is only there to find you evenly matched opponents and make the game more FUN! Frankly, if you only enjoy starcraft when you are winning or suffer from very negative emotions when you lose, find another hobby.
tskarzyn
Profile Joined July 2010
United States516 Posts
December 22 2011 17:38 GMT
#98
On December 23 2011 02:13 HaruRH wrote:
Things work way different for me. I fear the ladder because when I start hitting up on the ladder, the fear of losing pumps me up so much that I can't stop playing till I start losing focus. (10~20 games later...) Any idea what is this?


Misplaced emotions? Video game addiction? Honestly, it's not good.
aTnClouD
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
Italy2428 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-12-22 17:44:52
December 22 2011 17:41 GMT
#99
I don't have ladder fear on SC2 but on SCBW when I was playing iCCup I would always start almost every account with scores like 40-0/50-0 and after a certain point I just lost the will to play cause I was afraid of getting the first loss. I would not play for a couple of days for that reason even though I felt I needed to practice and understood it was totally stupid and superficial. Usually after the second loss I started to loosen up and didn't care about playing and losing many more, but the part between getting into a game while I had no losses and the moment I finally got my second loss was really troublesome, cause it made me feel proud but at the same time I was scared to lose what made me so proud. That's the only occasion where I wouldn't want to ladder but I remember clearly how much it held me back and how big of a problem it was at the time when I was still an unexperienced player. I can imagine new players winning a tournament game or a ladder game against a very good player and being afraid on going ahead cause they are afraid they might lose to the next noob again, nullifying the good result they got.
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/hunter692007/kruemelmonsteryn0.gif
Bulkers
Profile Joined September 2010
Poland509 Posts
December 22 2011 17:45 GMT
#100
I dont feel any fear/stress playing ladder, In online cups a little in Bo1 phases. I got bad habit of playing a lot of games when Im in looser streak so sometime I can get 0-10.
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 17 18 19 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
RSL Revival
10:00
Season 2: Playoffs Day 4
Classic vs MaruLIVE!
Tasteless839
Crank 658
IndyStarCraft 234
Rex104
CranKy Ducklings93
3DClanTV 71
IntoTheiNu 22
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Tasteless 839
Crank 658
IndyStarCraft 234
Rex 104
Codebar 35
StarCraft: Brood War
Sea 9972
Horang2 1891
Barracks 459
EffOrt 340
Pusan 245
Last 227
Hyun 220
Soma 188
ZerO 88
Rush 80
[ Show more ]
ggaemo 76
sSak 63
ToSsGirL 54
Nal_rA 41
JYJ28
Sea.KH 21
zelot 15
yabsab 15
Shine 9
Hm[arnc] 7
NaDa 4
Icarus 3
Dota 2
The International192038
Gorgc15056
Dendi1068
PGG 61
Counter-Strike
x6flipin499
edward41
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King109
Westballz27
Other Games
B2W.Neo382
DeMusliM334
Happy118
oskar110
XaKoH 105
mouzStarbuck99
NeuroSwarm57
MindelVK11
ZerO(Twitch)9
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick530
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 13 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• FirePhoenix7
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• Ler82
League of Legends
• Jankos1541
Upcoming Events
Maestros of the Game
5h 24m
ShoWTimE vs herO
Bunny vs Zoun
TBD vs Serral
TBD vs Classic
BSL Team Wars
7h 24m
Afreeca Starleague
22h 24m
Snow vs Sharp
Jaedong vs Mini
Wardi Open
23h 24m
OSC
1d 12h
Sparkling Tuna Cup
1d 22h
Afreeca Starleague
1d 22h
Light vs Speed
Larva vs Soma
PiGosaur Monday
2 days
LiuLi Cup
2 days
RSL Revival
3 days
[ Show More ]
The PondCast
4 days
RSL Revival
4 days
Korean StarCraft League
5 days
RSL Revival
5 days
[BSL 2025] Weekly
6 days
BSL Team Wars
6 days
RSL Revival
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2025-09-10
SEL Season 2 Championship
HCC Europe

Ongoing

BSL 20 Team Wars
KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 3
BSL 21 Points
ASL Season 20
CSL 2025 AUTUMN (S18)
LASL Season 20
RSL Revival: Season 2
Maestros of the Game
Chzzk MurlocKing SC1 vs SC2 Cup #2
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 2025
FISSURE Playground #1

Upcoming

2025 Chongqing Offline CUP
BSL Polish World Championship 2025
IPSL Winter 2025-26
BSL Season 21
SC4ALL: Brood War
BSL 21 Team A
SC4ALL: StarCraft II
EC S1
SL Budapest Major 2025
BLAST Rivals Fall 2025
IEM Chengdu 2025
PGL Masters Bucharest 2025
Thunderpick World Champ.
MESA Nomadic Masters Fall
CS Asia Championships 2025
ESL Pro League S22
StarSeries Fall 2025
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.