What Exactly is Exam Phobia and How to Deal With it Using 5 Easy Techniques?
Exam time is coming closer and you or your child is feeling extreme fear, headache, and uncontrollable self-criticism, is it not something that is disturbing and harmful to your mental and physical health? Well, don’t worry, this is exam phobia which is also known as Test phobia or test anxiety.
Exam Phobia:
Exam phobia is also known as test phobia or test anxiety which is one of the anxiety disorders which is very common in students. It is common and rare at the same time because around 50% of students face this fear but the fact is that they don’t know about this fear.
The patient of the affected person doesn’t know that this situation is an anxiety disorder and this need to be treated.
The affected person may feel uncomfortable during exam times. Although many students face fear during exams this is not how it works! It can lead to serious mental and physical health issues like headaches, depression, self-criticism, and nausea.
What can Cause Test Anxiety (Exam Phobia)?
Test Anxiety can be caused by various factors. Exam phobia is also an irrational phobia like Acrophobia but some are the most common situations that can lead to exam phobia. These include:
- A bad experience with exams in past
- Pressure from family
- Fear of being insulted if get bad marks in exams
- Fear of being rejected by society
- Self-Criticism
These reasons can cause exam phobia.
How it can affect a person?
It can affect a person mentally and also physically. It can cause:
- Headache
- Increase Heartbeat
- Shortness of Breath
- Nausea
- Fainting
- Light Headlessness
- Rapid heartbeat
- Absence of control
- Self Criticism
- Depression
These situations can be faced by a person having exam phobia. If you feel these effects then you need to take care of yourself. Have you wondered what is the treatment for exam phobia? Well, read on to take care of yourself during exams.
So, what is the treatment now?
If you are feeling this disorder for at least 6 months, then you need to take treatment. From my experience during my school life, I have noticed that there are some ways to overcome exams fear.
First Thing First, Take care of your diet and sleep:
No matter how much fear you have with your exams. You need to take care of your diet and sleep. Correct diet and sleep will help you to study in a better environment which can make it easy to deal with your exams.
Let me clear something which is just a myth! Hard work during the night doesn’t make you successful. The night is made for sleeping and the day is for work. So, don’t finger nature otherwise nature will finger you very well! I hope you understood…
You need to follow the natural rules to overcome this fear naturally. Studying late at night is not good. You have to study during day time. The first time of the day, between 5 am to 8 am, is perfect for studying because this time, your mind works very fast (only if you have slept early in the night). So, take care of your sleep and your diet. Avoid caffeine like coffee, tea, etc. Eat healthy.
Never Compare yourself with others:
I know your parents will tell you that someone has got more grades than you. It is quite normal in our society. But, it needs to be changed!
We don’t need to compare ourselves with others. It is also a bit of advice for parents that they should not compare their children with others.
Not everyone is born to get A+ in exams. Some got the first position while some got failed. Just focus on yourself, Don’t see what others are doing and what others are getting. You have to focus on yourself because you are born for making your future, not your competitor’s future.
Make a Timetable
The timetable will make your daily life easy. You will complete your daily tasks on a time and after this, you will have some time for your entertainment. Entertainment is also very necessary for a healthy mind.
Make a timetable that best suits your daily routine. Do your tasks to the given timetable and you will be prepared for your exams very well.
Stop Overthinking:
From my experience, I have noticed that overthinking is the major cause of exam phobia. Don’t think what the questions will be, don’t think what your parents will say about your result, don’t think about how prepared are my friends, don’t think about what others have done.
Only think about your tasks and revise everything that you have studied.
A Quick Revision:
A quick revision of your syllabus will remind everything that you have studied. Also, it will stop you from overthinking. Your mind will be busy with the revision instead of overthinking. So, right before the exams, you have to take a quick revision of your syllabus.
These 5 techniques are from my personal experience and will help you a lot in overcoming exam phobia or test anxiety. Best of luck for exams!
