Anxiety can be problematic when it prevents you from taking or doing your best on an exam, causes you to feel anxious all the time, or becomes extreme. Test anxiety is a combination of physical symptoms and emotional reactions that interfere with your ability to perform well on tests.

What is another name for exam or test anxiety?

Test anxiety can also be called as anticipatory anxiety, situational anxiety or evaluation anxiety.

The Different Types Of  Test Anxiety:

One type of test anxiety is somatic, which is what you are feeling. 2. The second type of test anxiety is cognitive, which is what you are thinking.

Causes of anxiety in exams: 

Inadequate preparation:  Students who are unprepared for the exam face the problem or those who haven’t been attentive in the class face the difficulty of preparation, and during the exams, they do not remember anything and consequently feel the examination stress.

Symptoms

Examinophobia- – The Fear of Exams is Genuine. If you regularly become excessively nervous before or during an important exam, you may have examinophobia that is exam fever. This is a very common phenomenon among students especially when an important examination is approaching next to you

Some of the common signs and symptoms are physical, emotional, and cognitive such as:

• Feeling nervous, restless or tense.
• Having a sense of impending danger, panic or doom.
• Having an increased heart rate.
• Breathing rapidly
• Excessive Sweating.
• Trembling.
• Feeling weak or tired.
• Trouble concentrating or thinking about anything other than the present worry.
• Somatic signs include headaches, stomach aches, nausea, diarrhea, excessive sweating, shortness of breath, light-headedness, rapid heartbeat and dry mouth.
• Having trouble sleeping
• Experiencing gastrointestinal problems
• Having difficulty controlling worry

Our Specialty

Exam anxiety is when a person experiences fear and physical symptoms related to taking an examination or test. It can cause a person to underachieve on an exam and lead to reduced academic performance overall. Your worries may not go away on their own, and they may get worse over time if you don’t seek help.  

Cognitive behavioral therapy(CBT) is the best recommendation for exam fear/anxiety depending on its severity. As the therapy helps to change people behaviors and thoughts that lead to unwanted feelings or behaviors.

Some common tips to cope with exam fear:

Benefits

• It’s okay not to be perfect: We understand and accept that we all make mistakes and we are not perfect.
• Learn to acknowledge that we have done our best and that’s more important than being perfect.
• Get rid of our negative thoughts. Follow healthy life style- Get good sleep with regular exercises and eat healthy.
• Understand the importance of early preparation. Don’t wait till the day before your exam as being well prepared boosts one’s confidence and reduces anxiety.