Fear, Anxiety and Test Taking?

Who doesn’t become a little nervous when it is time to take a test? It is a common occurrence in schools, especially in post-secondary institutions such as universities and colleges, where students will suffer some stress and anxiety before and during a test or an exam. Why do they have anxiety? Many suffer anxiety because they are concerned about their future. They, or their parents are putting a lot of money into the institution and top marks mean that the student will make the money worth while with their success and graduation. The stress really comes in for many students who constantly worry that they just can’t possibly retain enough of the information they were supposed to have learned in order to pass the tests. A little bit of stress is healthy, in that it is what often creates some of the push or drive for a student to study and ensure that they do well in school; however, too much of this stress can actually push the student into failure.

It really doesn’t matter what age a person is, or what they are writing a test for, many will experience some anxiety before and during the test. That is normal, but there are some people out there who experience so much anxiety and stress before and during an exam that they go blank, have a panic attack and then fail the test. It can be difficult for a person, especially if they are a young student in high school or the first years of university, to gain control of their anxiety. The emotion grows out of control and ends up sabotaging their future efforts. When test or exam anxiety is not dealt with, the resulting poor marks can hurt a person’s chances of advancing that year and can even result in the loss of confidence in their abilities. After enough tests have resulted in poor marks, many students with this anxiety will start to say and believe that they are not smart enough to pass their tests.

Many laugh it off and others start to think that their failure and inability to complete tests is due to stupidity, but this is not the case. Most are suffering severe anxiety and that is what is having a negative effect on test scores. This is a real and serious condition that is best to get treated as soon as possible. The sooner the anxiety toward tests and exams is dealt with, the sooner the individual can start to calm down and achieve the marks they deserve. There are online counselors and therapists who can help a person with their anxiety toward exams. The patient can communicate with the online therapist over e-mail and the online counselor can help the patient get over their anxiety. Issues, concerns and worries are discussed through online counseling and the anxiety starts to disappear when these are addressed. In many cases, it is a matter of building up some confidence in the patient, in others it is a matter of dealing with issues that are manifesting themselves into anxiety. Whatever the reasons, online therapy can help the patient to deal with any issues they may have and to help the patient eventually get over their anxiety.