Handling Exam Anxiety
Do you get really shaky, nervous, and freaked out before or during exams? Learn to relax and concentrate better! We realize that significant levels of anxiety can result in reduced performance of various skills. Why is that?
When you become worried and scared, your brain sends a SWAT team of adrenaline and other chemicals around your body, getting ready to "fight, flee or play dead" in response to an imagined threat. Unfortunately, your brain doesn't distinguish between a charging moose and a calculus exam.
A pounding heart, raspy breathing, fearful attention, and increased blood pressure are not very conducive to recalling and organizing the complex material that you are studying. So what do you do? Send the SWAT team back to headquarters asap. Here's how:
Some Strategies to Help Reduce Anxiety
- Think positively
- Fearful thoughts set off fearful physical responses. Approach the exam assuming that you will do the best you can. Imagine it, picture it, repeat it to yourself - it's what top athletes do to psych themselves up.
- BREATHE!
- Slow, deep breaths tell the brain that there is no emergency requiring the services of your SWAT team. Relaxation and focus will be easier to achieve.
- If you draw a blank, don't panic!
- It happens. Work on a question you know and your brain is likely to find the mental file you're looking for. Ever look for your keys in a panic? You usually find them right under your nose but at the time, you were too upset to recognize them.
- Prepare well for exams
- This isn't rocket science. If you haven't gone to class all term and picked up the notes yesterday, well........expect to cram. If you desire to do well in a course, be sure to attend, study, and prepare-all of which are consistent with this goal. Cramming for a few hours before the exam is not an effective way to learn. You'll retain more by getting a good night's sleep after a solid study session spread throughout the days following up.
- Keep things in perspective
- How much is your exam really worth? Have you performed pretty well throughout the rest of the course? If you score poorly, consider your options-perhaps you could complete an extra assignment to increase your mark? And don't forget to think about next term when you'll have another opportunity to plan your studying in advance.
- Stay away from the stimulants!
- Coffee, cigarettes, and sugar may briefly make you feel alert and energized... but if you're already nervous, they may drive you past being keyed up and into panic. Besides, you'll only crash and crave later.
Need More Help Relaxing & Reducing Worry?
- Thunder Bay campus - call or come by the Centre to make an appointment with a health professional
- Orillia campus - contact the Health & Wellness Centre