Overcoming Exam Anxiety

What is exam anxiety?

Most people naturally feel some anxiety before an exam.

Some anxiety before and during an exam actually helps to enhance your performance. The extra adrenalin that stress releases can assist you in responding to demanding situations.

Sometimes, however, too much adrenalin is released and you may begin to feel distress. Then anxiety can get in the way of performing well.

It is most useful to keep your anxiety about exams at a level that allows your best performance - not so low that you lack motivation to study and not so high that it gets in the way of you performing well.  The goal is to find ways of managing your anxiety so it promotes alertness and performance.

Do you have exam anxiety?

When you have an exam, do you:

• feel like you “go blank”
• find yourself thinking “I can’t do this” or “I’m stupid”
• feel like the room is closing in on you
• feel your heart racing or find it difficult to breathe
• suddenly “know” the answers after turning in the exam
• score much lower than on homework or papers
• feel overwhelmed or become distracted
• miss important cues from your surroundings

If you have a number of these reactions, read on:

Managing exam anxiety:  Four Principles

1. Be healthy: If you are physically and emotionally exhausted, your body and mind are less able to tolerate stress and anxiety.  Aim to:

• get adequate rest
• eat well and drink sufficient water
• exercise
• give yourself ‘guilt-free’ time for social, enjoyable and relaxing activities.

2. Be prepared: Over-prepare by studying earlier and more than is absolutely essential.

If you over-prepare, your responses become more automatic, and performance is less affected by anxiety.  Prepare by:

• using the Academic Learning and Study Skills Centre (ph:6125 2972)
• attending class regularly and completing assignments
• doing practice tests or exams from previous years
• approaching your lecturers to clarify the exam format
• confirming the location of the exam and leaving sufficient travel time
• learning and practicing the following anxiety management techniques.

3. Regulate your arousal level: Aim to lower your level of arousal. Effective ways involve altering your physical responses like breathing and muscle tension:

Diaphragm breathing: Shallow breathing happens when you are anxious. Breathing deeply into the diaphragm reduces blood pressure and heart rate with a corresponding drop in arousal. To learn diaphragm breathing, try the following:

• lie down with the Telephone Directory (yellow pages) on your abdomen
• breathe in through the nose filling first the lower lung, then the upper lung
• pause for one to three seconds, then breathe out through the mouth
• pause again and repeat the process.

The idea is to lift the yellow pages with your breathing. By practicing this way you will be training the diaphragm muscle, so you can then do it properly in any situation.

Progressive muscle relaxation:Consciously relaxing your muscles will help your body and mind relax. Practice muscle relaxation during deep breathing. Focus on a particular muscle group (e.g., shoulders) and alternatively tensing and relaxing the muscle. Then, focus on releasing all of the tension in the muscle, repeating ‘relax’ in your mind.

4. Stand Up To Catastrophic Thinking: Thoughts have a direct link to anxiety levels. Negative or catastrophic thinking regarding exams will increase anxiety. Try some of the following:

• Become aware of your negative or catastrophic thinking
• Look for the evidence for the negative thought. Challenge it.
• Try turning the volume down on the negative thought.
• Give the negative thought a Daffy Duck voice or cartoon character voice of your choice (which is hard to take seriously)
• Acknowledge the thought and let it slide past without buying into it or following it to its natural conclusion.
• Diaphram Breathing and Self-Talk: When anxiety levels are high, link some form of relaxation strategy with thought management. For example, a few minutes of diaphragm breathing while you challenge the negative thought generally has more impact.

University Counselling Service:

If you have difficulty with any of these techniques, contact the University Counselling Centre for additional assistance. Phone:6125 2442 to make an appointment. Exam Anxiety Management Seminars are run each semester and explore these strategies in more detail.