Do You Suffer From Test Anxiety?
Many people experience nervousness or apprehension before, during, or after exams. This kind of anxiety can be a powerful motivator. However, some people experience test-related anxiety to such a degree that it can lead to poor performance.
During exams, do you...
- Feel like you "go blank?”
- Become frustrated?
- Get distracted?
- Feel overwhelmed?
- Find yourself thinking, “I can’t do this,” or “I’m stupid?”
- Feel like the room is closing in on you?
- Feel your heart racing or find it difficult to breathe?
- Have distracting thoughts of failure?
- Suddenly know the answers after the test?
- Score lower than you do on homework or practice tests?
If you answered “yes” to some of these questions, you may be experiencing test anxiety.
What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is a feeling of unease, worry, or fear, often about an anticipated event or something with an uncertain outcome. It's closely linked to the "fight-or-flight" response, a physiological reaction that prepares the body to deal with perceived threats. While the fight-or-flight response is a natural survival mechanism, anxiety can trigger it even when there's no immediate danger, leading to distressing physical and psychological symptoms.
Test anxiety is a condition where you experience excessive distress and worry before, during, or after taking a test. It's a type of performance anxiety, characterized by both physical and cognitive symptoms that can interfere with the ability to concentrate and perform well on exams. It typically occurs when you believe you are incapable of meeting the challenge and fear the consequences of possible failure.
Symptoms of Test Anxiety
Physical: Increased heart rate and palpitations, sweating, shortness of breath, upset stomach, headaches, shakiness or trembling, feeling lightheaded or faint
Emotional: Fear and apprehension, stress and anxiety, feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt, panic attacks, hopelessness and despair
Behavioral: Fidgeting, pacing, chewing on pens or pencils, “drumming” on a desk, faking illness or making other excuses to avoid the test, difficulty eating or sleeping before the test, substance abuse
Cognitive: Difficulty concentrating, racing thoughts, memory lapses, negative self-talk, procrastination
What Causes Test Anxiety?
Test anxiety can develop for many reasons. There may be a prior negative experience that serves as the activating event. People who fear “blanking out” on tests or question their ability to perform can develop anticipatory anxiety. Worrying about how anxiety will affect you can be as debilitating as the anxiety itself, building as the testing situation approaches, and interfering with your ability to prepare adequately.
Poor time management and poor study habits can also lead to feeling overwhelmed. People who cram at the last minute will feel less confident that they can remember the content than those who follow a structured study plan.
Lack of confidence, fear of failure, and other negative thoughts also contribute to test anxiety. The pressure to perform well is a big motivator unless it is so extreme that it becomes irrational. Perfectionism and feelings of unworthiness can create unreasonable goals. When self-esteem is too closely tied to the outcome of any one academic task, the results can be devastating. It can cause you to focus more on the negative consequences of failure than on preparing to succeed.
Arousal and Anxiety
You must be mentally and physically alert to perform well in challenging situations. This level of “alertness” is also called arousal. Some degree of arousal is essential for optimal performance.
Increasing arousal is the idea behind “psyching up”. Psyching up can help enhance performance. The problem comes when the intensity of arousal gets too high. You then begin to feel nervous and tense and experience anxiety. Anxiety becomes distracting and performance declines—you get “psyched out.” For optimal performance, you need to keep your arousal at an intermediate level — psyched up but not psyched out.
"Am I Psyched Out?"
How do you know when you are “psyched up” enough, but not too much, for an exam? When psyched up, you’ll be able to focus on the task, and performance will feel natural. When psyched out and anxiety takes over, you may experience the symptoms of test anxiety, distracting thoughts of failure, a desire to escape the situation, or feelings of wanting to give up.
Tips for Reducing Test Anxiety
There are several things you can do to make test anxiety more manageable:
Prepare: Develop good study habits, spread studying over several days, and if needed, ask for additional help from your instructor, a tutor, or a classmate. Eat healthy foods, get adequate rest, and exercise to build energy. Attend class regularly and complete all assignments promptly. Make and take practice tests.
Keep a Positive Attitude: Develop reasonable expectations. Avoid negative and irrational thoughts about catastrophic results. Set up a system of rewards for dedicated studying and good performance. Encourage yourself.
Use Relaxation Techniques: Deep breathing exercises, visualization strategies, and muscle relaxation techniques can help increase focus and concentration.
Learn Good Test-taking Skills: Arrive on time for the test with all necessary items (ID, documents, calculator, etc.). Don’t arrive too early and get distracted by others talking negatively—anxiety is contagious! Don’t arrive late either, as rushing will only increase your anxiety. Read directions carefully before you begin. Don’t panic if you can’t remember something right away—answer questions you know well first, then return to the more difficult ones. Try not to spend too much time on one question. Pace yourself. Answer all questions (unless you are penalized for wrong answers). Reserve 10% of your test time for review.
Additional Strategies
Be Healthy: If you are physically and emotionally exhausted, your body and mind struggle to handle stress and anxiety. You can improve your resistance by getting adequate rest, eating healthy foods, and caring for your physical and mental health.
Be Prepared: Practice, practice, practice. Study, study, study. While it may sound repetitive, good preparation helps build confidence and reduces anxiety. If needed, seek help to improve your study habits, time management, or test-taking skills.
Practice the Performance: Exam time limits and testing conditions are stimuli that can increase your level of arousal and add to your experience of anxiety. You can become less sensitive to these stimuli if you practice under similar conditions. Work through practice tests under the same time limits as the actual test. For conditions you cannot reproduce, create them in your mind—close your eyes and “see” the test environment.
Regulate Your Level of Arousal: In an anxious situation, the goal is to lower your level of arousal. Some of the most effective ways involve altering your physical and mental responses.
Deep breathing: We often take shallow breaths when we are anxious. We can feel like we aren’t getting enough air and get more nervous. When you focus on breathing deeply and slowly, this cycle is interrupted, and the body and mind begin to relax. To learn to breathe deeply, place your hand on your stomach and inhale in a way that makes your abdomen expand. As you exhale, your abdomen should move inward. Practice taking 10-15 slow, deep breaths in a row, 2-3 times per day—training your body to breathe deeply and relax. Then, during a stressful situation, focus on taking 2-3 deep breaths to relax your body.
Progressive muscle relaxation: We also tense our muscles when we’re anxious. Consciously relaxing your muscles will help your body and mind relax. Practice muscle relaxation during deep breathing by focusing on a particular muscle group (e.g., hands, shoulders). Alternately tense and relax the muscle—focus on releasing all the tension in the muscle.
Practice visualization: Close your eyes and create a picture of yourself doing your best on the test. Visualize it repeatedly with all your senses. What do you see? How does it feel? What do you hear? Visualizing yourself achieving your goal makes your brain believe that attaining that goal is possible.
Reduce distractions: Distractions are additional stimuli that increase arousal. Explore ways to reduce distractions in your test environment (e.g., use noise reduction headphones or earplugs, wear a sweater so you aren’t distracted by being cold).
Control Fear: Fear of failure is an underlying source of test anxiety. Pay attention to what you think and say to yourself in anxious situations. Negative self-talk likely reflects a fear or expectation that you will perform poorly. You can help control this by improving your self-talk and perspective.
Positive self-talk: Purposefully fill your mind with positive statements about yourself and your abilities. Replace negative thoughts with positive and encouraging ones. Instead of thinking "I'm going to fail," try "I've prepared well, and I can do this". Repeat positive statements daily, especially before and during exams. And remember, thinking about past mistakes or future consequences is not helpful. Keep your mind focused on the present.
Gaining perspective: People's negative thoughts in stressful situations often focus on potentially drastic consequences of failure, even though these outcomes are highly unlikely. Instead of focusing on the test itself, focus shifts to dire consequences, fueling intense worry, anxiety, and self-doubt, and negatively impacting performance. During those times, it's important to remember that one mistake does not equal failure, and a poor performance does not mean you're worthless.