I taught a Pharmacy Technician course, & math was scary for 90% of my students, whether they're young or older. Math anxiety is definitely real, as I myself experienced it many years ago. Many have been passed through in elementary and high school, never learning basic math, i.e., fractions, multiplication tables, division, decimals, percents, etc. Most wanted to quit the 1st week after beginning the course, because they were terrified about MATH! I actually started from square one teaching them 2nd grade math over an 6-wk period. The 10% of my class who felt comfortable with math were given workbook pages and other projects to work on until the others caught up. They also became "teachers" themselves, helping the other students. Once I broke math down to the most elementary forms & gave the students time to actually "learn" the material, they flew though the course. So many of them thanked me with tears in their eyes at the end of the term for taking the time with them, & not making them feel "stupid". One 55 yr. old female student sobbed because she was so happy that she finally learned how to do fractions. I feel students are being pushed through elementary and high school today without being "taught" math skills, which definitely sets the student up for major test anxiety.