Test anxiety and other types of performance anxieties manifest as physical symptoms in response to excessive worrying about not doing well. Often people will complain of having "butterflies," a stomachache, or a tension headache. Some people might feel shaky, sweaty, or feel their heart pounding on the outside of their chest. They may have difficulty focusing or even forget everything they studied. A student with severe test anxiety may even feel like he or she might vomit or faint.
How Negative Thinking Contributes to Test Anxiety
The more a person worries about writing the test and the more that worry is rooted in negative thoughts, the stronger the anxiety experience will be. Once students get on the negative roller coaster of thinking they will do poorly, it is very difficult to stop the disorienting effects this ride has on one's performance. The more a person worries about failure the more those thoughts become ingrained in their belief system about themselves. It becomes a self -fulfilling prophecy: a person who believes they will fail, will most likely do just that. Negative thinking and anxiety can incapacitate the most capable student.
Managing Negative Thinking
If negative thought processes and anxiety are impeding a student's ability to succeed, it is imperative that the student be taught how to change negative thinking patterns. The first step students need to learn is thought awareness: understanding and acknowledging fear and self-deprecating thoughts. Once a student can identify the negative thought patterns regarding fears about performance and failure, the student can interrupt and replace negative thinking with positive affirmations.
Quick Tips for Preparing for a Test that Help Build Confidence and Lessen Anxiety:
- Develop good study habits by having a consistent homework routine.
- Manage time effectively (start studying early, avoid distractions).
- Be the "engine that could". Use positive affirmations to combat thoughts about failure.
- Organize material to be studied and learned. Re-read class notes each day so when the test arrives, studying for it will be more of a review than having to "cram" for it all at once.
- Evaluate past performance on tests to improve and learn from the experience. What strategies worked well? Which ones didn't make a difference in performance?
- Ask a parent or friend to make up a "mock" test and write it a day or two before.
- Get enough sleep the night before and eat a nutritious meal prior to writing the test.
Quick Tips for Keeping Anxiety in Check during the Test:
- Read the directions carefully, underline key words and phrases.
- Budget your test taking time. Do not spend time on questions where the answer is not forthcoming. Save those ones for the end.
- Frequently change positions and take some deep breaths to promote relaxation.
- If it is an essay test: organize thoughts in a systematic way and write in a logical format (introduction, main point, conclusion).
- Don't panic when other students start handing in their papers. There's no reward for being the first done. It's better to take all the time allotted to be sure no mistakes have been made.
Anxiety is not a condition that can be overcome in one night. It takes practice to re-wire the brain's way of thinking about having to preform and a person's perceived ability to succeed. Negative thinking tends to play over in the mind like a skip in a music record. Interrupting those thought patterns and replacing them with positive affirmations takes time and discipline. Once a student can effectively change negative thinking, conditions of angst will decrease at a more rapid rate, where the student will eventually take control over the anxiety.
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