Test Anxiety in Students

Test anxiety is something that almost every person experiences during his or her student life. In other words, it can be said that feeling anxious during tests or exams is a part and parcel of a student's life. Little anxiety actually helps one in concentrating and working hard for the exams. However, if students spend all their time in feeling anxious, lot of valuable study time would be lost.

In this competitive world, test and exam time cause a lot of tension and nervousness in students. For some, anxiety is like a tonic to work hard, while for others it may be the root cause for poor performance, leading to academic failure, psychological disorder and poor self confidence.

Test anxiety is a kind of performance anxiety that is psychological in nature, where a person feels nervous before, during and after the exam. Anxiety is actually a normal way of reacting to stressful situations. It is a way in which our body tries to cope up with the oncoming stress. When we face certain stressful situations, a hormone called adrenaline is released in our body, which in turn produces certain physical symptoms that help us during difficult situations.

Some of the physical changes an anxious person experiences are stomach ache, fever, nauseousness, giddiness, headache, rapid heart beat, perspiration, shivering, etc. They may also experience certain emotional problems like crying or getting frustrated easily. Many people blank out and feel that they are not able to remember what they had studied thoroughly.

Causes of Test Anxiety
Some students are anxious by nature and easily get nervous when they face a stressful situation. Negative thoughts creep into the minds of such students during tests, even if they have prepared well. The fear that one will forget everything he has studied or the fear of going through a tough question paper makes him nervous. When someone indulges in negative thinking, it is likely that one forgets what he or she has studied.

Anxiety also affects people who are perfectionists and achieve high scores in every test. Such students pressurize themselves and are always tensed to gain perfect scores. This may cause anxiety as even one wrong answer can make them feel that they have done badly in the test.

Test anxiety is most common in people who have not studied for the whole academic year, but still want to score excellent marks. When one starts preparing at the last minute, he has lots to study in a very stipulated time span. This again leads to anxiety, as they get tensed if they would be able to complete everything and remember everything they studied. The thought of studying lots in a stipulated time span would make them sick with anxiety. This kind of behavior reflects poor study habits, lack of organization and poor time management. Not preparing in advance causes low self confidence and fear of failure.

Tips to Overcome Anxiety
One of the most important factors for avoiding test anxiety is to prepare well in advance. Studying regularly for few hours everyday, from the beginning of the year helps in increasing the confidence of students.

If students are not able to cope with anxiety or nervousness, they could talk to their teachers, student counselors, parents or friends. Parents should also avoid pressurizing their kids to do well. Create a peaceful and relaxing atmosphere at home, so that your children can study without any tension. Another important point that arises here is neither the students nor the parents should compare the children with their other classmates and friends.

Do not forget to eat and sleep properly. Many times due to anxiety students avoid sleep and starve themselves. They should sleep for at least 6-7 hours a day and eat nutritious and healthy food. Exercising regularly is also important, as is talking to friends and socializing.

Plan your studies well. Chart out a time-table and take proper breaks between studying. Along with the study time, allot time to relax and indulge in hobbies or what you love to do. Practicing simple breathing techniques will also help reducing stress.

Students should remember that tests are just a part of life and not the end of it. While it is important to gain good scores in tests, it is not the most important thing in life. Learning to control negative thoughts and coping with nervousness and stress will not only help them to do well in school tests, but also in their future life and career.