Taking away the anxiety itself
Calm yourself down before, during, or after a game.
* Have a cup of tea.
* Have a beer.
This may hinder strategic thinking, but calming your nerves has a higher priority.
* Stay away from (too much) caffeine and sweets.
Caffeine makes the stress response worse, as do the artifical coloring agents in many sweets.
Do something else for a while.
* Take a warm bath or shower. (HuK)
* Meditate. This takes a lot of practice and isn't for everyone.
There are plenty of online resources to get you started, from audio files that put you into a meditative state, to breathing exercises and mindfulness courses.
* Play different games for a while.
Play team games, custom games, or UMS maps.
Play something other than StarCraft. Day[9] suggests Minesweeper to increase your mouse speed and accuracy.
Set the right mood.
* Listen to non-vocal music.
The melody takes care of your nerves. Vocals would take your focus away from the game. Even if they are in a language you don't understand, your brain recognizes it as language and attempts to decipher it.
Video game soundtracks are one possible source of non-vocal music.
* Turn off the game sound.
You won't hear the dreaded countdown beeps, or any other sounds that make you nervous.
With proper focus on the game you won't need the "our drones are under attack" sounds anyway.
Learn to control the anxiety.
* This is an advanced technique, and requires learning how to meditate first. It is usually used to manage chronic pain, but also works for anxiety.
First, explore the physical sensation of the anxiety. Figure out which muscle groups are involved in your trembling.
Then, alternatively try to intensify the trembling and then weakening it.
Eventually you will have full control over your anxiety.
[edit] Taking away the cause of the anxiety
Change the attitude with which you approach a gaming session so you no longer become anxious.
If you fear losing a game:
* Realize that every loss means you will meet easier opponents.
Any points lost will therefore be easier to win back.
In this way losing may actually benefit your ranking.
* It's normal to lose. Even the pros lose 40-45% of the time.
* Losing does not mean you are worse than the other player, nor does winning mean you are better.
* Every game is a win/win situation: either you defeat your opponent, or you learn to be a better player.
* It's not the loss that causes frustration, but handling the loss poorly.
Congratulate your opponent and leave the computer for a while.
When you get angry, do push-ups to exhaustion.
After several consecutive losses, watch your replays and take notes, or try a new tactic.
Save your losing replays with a brief description and compare your plays if you lose to the same strategy again.
* Learn to not play to win.
Play to improve your scouting, macro, micro, and multitasking.
Play to have fun!
If you fear for your stats or ranking:
* Log on and surrender 30 games in a row.
Your stats will be too bad to worry about.
* Spend a few bucks on a second account that nobody knows about.
Your stats will be invisible, in a sense.
* Play on the Public Test Region when it's up.
Your stats will only last for the few days that the PTR is up.
* Try to think of laddering simply as practice.
It is not a tournament; there is no money on the line.
If you fear your opponent:
* Play as if they are just the AI.
* Play as if they are someone you are trying to impress with your play.
* Scout a lot, so you can be confident they won't do something unexpected.
If you are insecure about your play:
* Practice your build order and game plan to death.
If you have to think about every little action you won't be confident and won't able to keep up with the speed of the game. Instead, make everything come naturally.
* Practice against every common strategy.
Your nerves are likely caused by not always knowing what to do; change that.
In short:
* Keep playing; after a few hundred games you won't be anxious anymore about playing the next.
This is an example of overcoming your fears by putting yourself in situations that cause them.
This can be hard at first. Try to press the [Find match] button immediately after a game so you don't have the time to talk yourself out of it.
