Exam anxiety! This is an issue not only among school pupils but also among many students. Even after graduation, applicants still have to overcome their fear of exams in job interviews or even in assessment centers. The bad news is that there is no life without trials. The good news, however, is that exam anxiety can be overcome and can even be useful if you know how to use it correctly.
We explain the reasons for fear, how to deal with it and how test anxiety can be overcome.
What Is Exam Anxiety and Where Does It Come from?
If you take a closer look, apart from a lack of preparation, there is no objective reason to be afraid of an exam. But as is the case with fears: Arguments don’t count, otherwise, it wouldn’t be fear.
However, what can help overcome test anxiety is to find the underlying causes of the anxiety. It has been shown that exam fear is less of a fear of failure. Rather, it is a fear of social evaluation. People who suffer from exam anxiety quickly have thoughts such as: “What do the others think of me then?”, Or “If I fail, everyone laughs at me!” Or “If I gamble it away, it’s all over! ”
In addition to external pressure, which has undoubtedly increased in medical studies as well as in other courses in recent years, there is also internal pressure, which is fed by excessively high expectations of oneself and the supposed expectations of the social environment. If the test anxiety has struck once and perhaps one or more tests have already been abandoned, the internal pressure increases even further and fuels the fear.
A vicious circle has begun; from which we have to break out. It’s not easy, but it is possible to overcome test anxiety.
Tips to Overcome Exam Anxiety in The Short Term
If major exams such as the Physic are just around the corner and you are in an acute phase of exam anxiety, there is usually no time for in-depth analyzes. At times due to exams and tough schedules students run out of time to submit their dissertation on time, therefore dissertation writing services UK offer great help to students in such times.
Here are simple tips that are easy to implement with immediate action. This shows that simple changes in behavior can often bring about an improvement. The following tips can help relieve acute anxiety.
- Pause
Exam anxiety often manifests itself in physical symptoms such as neck or abdominal pain, sweaty hands, or an accelerated pulse rate. If you experience symptoms like this, it helps to speak to your fear. That may sound strange at first, but when fear takes on a face, it loses power. For some people, a loud “stop” is a first step, which may soon be followed by intensive conversations with fear. Others may prefer to deal with fear in a humorous way.
- Away with The Attention
Often those affected focus strongly on fear and the negative thoughts and feelings associated with it. The more attention your test anxiety gets, the stronger it becomes. That is why it can also help to give her as little space as possible if she cannot be calmed down by an inner conversation.
Exam anxiety can be overcome if you consciously direct your attention and concentration to a relaxing time after the exam when the fear is completely attacked by you. To do this, one can consciously undertake a fixed, relaxing, positive program after the exam and imagine this before the exam in order to alleviate the anxiety.
- Breathing Exercises
Exam anxiety makes you want to breathe quickly and shallowly. This is wrong because it does not provide enough oxygen to the brain. Exam anxiety can be kept in check through targeted breathing. It is best to breathe calmly through your nose deeply and slowly into your stomach, pause your breath there briefly, and then consciously exhale through your mouth.
- Relaxation Exercises
Jacobson’s progressive muscle relaxation is a tried and tested method against stress-related tension. The advantage of this method is its simplicity and universal applicability. It can be learned quickly and can also be used without being noticed in a fully occupied lecture hall.
- Set Priorities
If the test anxiety is more or less under control, an objective look at the tasks helps. Of course, there are tasks that suit you better, others require a little more effort. Anyone who solves the easier tasks at the beginning automatically gains security, which carries one over the higher demands.
What Helps Against Exam Anxiety?
In order to permanently overcome your test anxiety, it makes sense to deal with it objectively in a quiet phase and to take appropriate measures. You should use the semester break for this purpose when the next exam is far away.
- Self-Organization
Many students are addicted to so-called funnel learning. A long phase of relative idleness is followed by a hectic learning phase in which everything that is possible is stuffed into the head like a funnel. This quickly creates the impression of an insurmountable and frightening abundance of material. In order to overcome test anxiety, it is therefore essential to start studying in good time.
Whoever knows how to divide the subject matter, immediately gets an overview of his work and breaks down the big mountain of work into many small hills that are easier to overcome. Learning with all the senses also includes a success control. Anyone who writes down what they have read activates several learning channels and at the same time receives reliable feedback about which material has not yet been mastered with certainty.
- Self-Care
Studying is exhausting, even if not everyone recognizes it. Therefore, it is important to take good care of yourself.
In order to overcome test anxiety, it is important to know your performance phases. Early risers are more receptive than night owls at other times of the day. Both groups of people should make sure they get enough sleep. During sleep phases, the brain processes new impressions, while the body is given a long break. In addition, regular breaks in learning sessions are essential. The most effective are the breaks that you consciously spend away from your desk with other things.
- Take Power Away from Fear
Exam anxiety loses power the more familiar you are with exam situations. So it can help to practice exam situations regularly. Mock exams and oral exams with friends under realistic conditions are a good way to overcome exam anxiety.
It can also help to write down your worst fears right before an exam. Fear once written by the soul does not haunt the head during the exam.
