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It is believed that studying anything 20-30 minutes before the exam, is a major cause of anxiety faced during the examination. Avoid doing the same, and also avoid asking your friends about what is important and what is not. Studying last minute is going to make you more anxious and the possibility of remembering is minimal.

• Do not enter the examination on an empty stomach.
• Sleep for at least 6-7 hours prior to writing the exam.
• Do not study anything 30 minutes before the exam.
• Stay away from negative people who will add to your stress.
• Keep yourself well hydrated, carry juice/electrol with you; sometimes it can be very handy.
• Check your stationery well in advance to avoid last-minute hassles.
• Practise deep breathing exercises if you feel very nervous.
• Open and close your fist if you are anxious and feel any kind of stiffness.
• Ask for permission to stand up and stretch, sometimes your muscles can get tensed if you are stressed. Stretching can help you destress.

In case the situation is beyond your control, ask for help.

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Exam stress or test anxiety involves a combination of excessively negative feelings, worry and dread about test performance and often interferes with normal learning and lowers exam performance. It is prevalent amongst students all over the world. The words ‘pressure’ and ‘stress’ are often used interchangeably, but in fact they are quite different.

Pressure can be positive and useful to complete deadlines or to help somebody avoid danger. However, when pressure is prolonged, it can be negative, and depending on how the individual perceives it and reacts to it, it can lead to the development of stress.

Exam stress is a natural reaction to too much pressure and can come from a number of sources, viz., young people themselves, comparisons with others, wanting to reach over-ambitious goals, pressure to excel in an exam from family members and peer pressure or pressure from teachers.

Symptoms of exam stress or test anxiety

Some people feel pressure and develop stress symptoms more readily than others. When someone is faced with increased pressure (in this case at exam time) their body can go into a response which releases increased amounts of stress chemicals in the body. This can lead to various symptoms including:

• Feeling cranky and irritable.
• Feeling inadequate and negative self-talk.
• Problems sleeping or waking up from sleep.

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“Anxiety is the most silently painful experience. It makes no sense and you sit alone and suffer for an unknown reason. You can’t explain it. You can’t stop it. It is horrible.”

Probably the most commonly-used word today is ‘stress’ used almost daily by millions of people the world over. We find stress everywhere, whether it be within the family, business organization or any other social or economic activity. Right from the time of birth till the last breath drawn, an individual is invariably exposed to various stressful situations. Thus, it is not surprising that interest in the issue has been rising in the present century which can be rightly called the ‘Era of Anxiety and Stress’.

They frequently feel that they are about to die. It is a haunting and disturbing experience. They are not faking nor are they merely trying to get sympathy from those around. It is really bearing on them, and often also equally taxing on counsellors or those who are expected to help them.

Sensitivity is needed in the diagnosis of anxiety states, especially because of possible complications from associated physical complaints. We wisely remember that many physical conditions cause the same symptoms that are found in anxiety states. These include hyperthyroidism, cardiac disorder, disturbances of the cerebellum and the semi-circular canals, some toxic conditions and disorders, as well as many other physical illnesses. These symptoms should be attended to carefully and in many cases these persons should be referred to for professional medical evaluation. Stress rises like fine and irritating smog off our work with anxious individuals because it is difficult for them to explain what their problem is. They lay it on our desk, wrapped in vagueness, challenging us to understand it. The better part of wisdom tells us that knowing what to avoid is as important as knowing how to proceed sensibly. Sometimes well-meaning friends complicate the difficulties of people suffering from extreme anxiety by blandly and blindly urging them to overcome it with a muscular old-fashioned determination. When people are already experiencing something closer to panic, such advice can tear their adjustment apart. They may then try to escape and, in fact, it is under just such pressure that some people leave counselling altogether. Counsellors who respect the unconscious variables in play here never push people too hard about their conscious behaviours or decision. Harried persons need less advice and simpler acceptance and understanding.

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Do you…

… like public speaking?
… prefer group assignments?
… enjoy meeting new people?
… pick conversations with strangers?
… wait to be singled out in front of the class?
… communicate openly with the opposite gender?

If you answered ‘yes’ to most of these questions it means you are socially confident and not worried about being judged negatively in new or difficult situations. It is not however uncommon, for some people to get nervous, afraid and uncomfortable in school, playgrounds, camps, sport meets, debates or examinations that involve speaking. They may not like talking in front of others, reading out loud or conversing with strangers because they fear that they will feel embarrassed, will lose their voice, tremble or shake, fumble and forget what they were to speak, offend others; or simply appear foolish or not smart enough.

Such persons think way too much about what the world might think about them. And they always conclude that it will be negative. All these behaviours are a hallmark of social anxiety, which surprisingly is very common in the ages between 11 and 17 years. Somehow though, we tend to think this is normal because everybody goes through it. But it’s not. It can get very frustrating, especially because at that age you usually want to be part of the group, enjoy with others, make new friends and speak up confidently in class, be the life of the party; but fail to do so.

Does this mean that being shy is an abnormal condition?

We all get a little uncomfortable when someone is evaluating us. For example, in an examination where we are literally placed under the radar and our performance result needs to be amazing. Well, it’s okay if people think that we are awesome; we don’t mind that! But if we know that people will judge us adversely, we try to avoid the situation completely. Who wants to appear like a fool after all? Now in an examination this worry is somewhat justified, but at birthday parties, in school or while walking on the street we can’t relive this exam kind of tension to believe that every moment is like an inspection, and that we are going to fail the test each time. This is not normal and it can be very troubling.

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