An exam is placed in front of you and your mind goes blank, you have feelings of nausea, and your muscles begin to tense. Your heart pounds, and you experience tunnel vision.
You may not have to imagine this scenario, because it describes you before a test. During times of stress our energy is directed away from thinking and pushed into meeting our basic survival needs. Unfortunately, this happens during exams. You might become anxious when you wait in the hallway, or when you come to several questions you don’t know. Test anxiety is real, and difficult to control. Worrisome thoughts, and physical sensations interfere with the task at hand.
What can I do?
- Utilize a support system by participating in a study group.
- Create a stress hierarchy. Make a list of items that cause you feelings of worrying and rank them from 1 – 5. Think of this like a ladder and with the items which upset you least at the bottom. Climb one step at a time imagining the anxiety-provoking trigger and self-calming until you know longer feel worried.
- Self-calming techniques include exploring our external world to reduce focus on the internal negative thoughts (grounding), or progressive muscle relaxation.
- Be aware of your caffeine intake. While this is one of the most effective and studied performance enhancing drugs, it can also lead to impaired performance at high levels. The DSM – V also recognizes a disorder of over consumption. Enjoy your daily intake but be careful as more does not always lead to better results.
- Address stress in other facets of your life. There have been studies that indicate we have choice exhaustion or decision fatigue when we must exert high levels of energy to complete mental tasks. When faced with supplying the mental energy to complete an exam if we already feel depleted, our performance will be poor.
- Ask to be let into the testing room before the exam to help learn to be calm in the environment and desensitize yourself to classroom triggers.
- Develop positive suggestions for yourself. Say, “I will do the best I can on this test and be satisfied with the result,” when you come to questions you don’t know.
- Seek other interventions and strategies by visiting an on-campus counseling center.
- Be sure you’ve prepared for the exam and feel confident in your studies.
What does it all mean?
- Test anxiety can impair a student’s abilities.
- There are techniques and strategies you can use to improve your performance.
- Don’t be afraid to seek the help of a professional for counseling.
If you are doing well with in-class work but seem to hit a wall when a test is placed in front of you, Daniel Wysocki Ed.S can provide counseling to find a way to help with your daily academic difficulties.
