Test Anxiety: Symptoms and How to Address It

Challenging times come to us all. For students, some of the most challenging seasons they experience are related to tests or examinations. Those times can be upsetting, and they can be worsened if anxiety enters the picture.

Cliff Notes on Test Anxiety

Many people feel anxious before a big or important event. In the life of a student, taking a test is a big deal, and it can bring anxiety to varying degrees. When a person has test anxiety, they experience extreme distress and anxiety in testing situations, and this anxiety has the effect of not only impairing learning but also hurting performance during tests. Test anxiety can prevent someone from doing their best.

There are several reasons why a person might struggle with test anxiety. For one thing, a fear of failure can be a cause, particularly if one’s self-worth is linked to test scores. When too much emphasis is placed on a particular test, that can also cause test anxiety. Other reasons include being unprepared for the test and being afraid of not meeting others’ expectations and consequently losing their respect or affection.

Additionally, if a person has a lackluster record with tests, whether due to anxiety or poor preparation, that can cause further anxiety and negative associations with tests. Lastly, if a person feels helpless and believes they can’t do anything to affect or change their grades or performance, that can add to feelings of anxiety. The stress from tests can trigger the release of adrenaline, making it difficult to concentrate on the test.

Symptoms Of Test Anxiety

Test anxiety, can manifest in various ways, including physically, emotionally, and behaviorally. Some of the more common symptoms of test anxiety include the following physical symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, sweating, trembling or shaking, nausea or stomach discomfort, racing thoughts, headaches, fatigue, and tense muscles. Other emotional, behavioral, and cognitive symptoms include:

• Feelings of apprehension or dread
• Fear of failure
• Perfectionism
• Irritability
• Hopelessness
• Avoidance behaviors such as procrastination, or skipping tests
• Compulsive behaviors such as excessive studying
• Impulsive behaviors such as acting out, or making reckless decisions
• Lack of motivation
• Difficulty concentrating
• Fidgeting or restlessness during tests
• Negative self-talk and self-doubt
• Catastrophizing, and thinking that exaggerated worst-case scenarios are all but inevitable
• Difficulty remembering information
• Lacking confidence in one’s abilities

Overcoming Test Anxiety

Test anxiety can be debilitating, lowering a person’s performance and affecting their belief in themselves and their capacity. Changing the narrative around test anxiety requires a change of mindset and behaviors that aren’t conducive to taking a test well. For one thing, it’s important to identify and banish negative thoughts and negative self-talk. Thoughts such as “I can’t do this” can be replaced with “I can do this”.

It is also important to recognize the truth that people like and love you for more than just your grades. Your value far exceeds whether you do well on a test or not. In the same manner, consider that grades measure your performance, and not your value as a person.

You should also consider whether you want to live up to whatever high expectations you feel others have of you. That is a choice that you can make, and you can set your own goals and expectations to live up to. None of us is perfect, so you shouldn’t expect yourself to be. What matters is faithfulness, not success. So if you’ve worked hard and done your best, that’s what counts.

Further, recognize that your course assessment comes down to more than just this test. Your course grade will likely include quizzes, presentations, class participation, papers and essays, and more. Press on and do what you can to boost other areas where you are evaluated. If you feel as though you’re helpless with no control over what happens, you can take control by improving your study habits and start your preparations now for your next assessments.

Taking care of your physical well-being is also important. Exercising and eating a healthy diet will help improve your ability to focus and get work done. Getting a good night’s rest will help your concentration and memory, which are important in test-taking.

Lastly, seek help. Your test anxiety could be mild and easily overcome, but depending on the severity of your symptoms, there’s great benefit to seeing a mental health professional such as a counselor. They make use of therapies such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) which helps identify and change unhealthy behaviors and underlying thoughts. Anti-anxiety medications in addition to therapy might help address the symptoms of anxiety, as well.

For an assessment and further guidance from one of the faith-based professionals at our location, contact us today.