If your are frustrated or debilitated by test anxiety, you might feel helpless to overcome it, but that is just not true. By making use of proven relaxation techniques, you can develop tools to increase relaxation, focus, concentration, confidence and control over your anxiety. Like any stressful or pressured performance situation, learning to manage or eliminate anxiety is the key to achievement. With the right help and guidance, this is a very fixable problem.
Specific techniques for test anxiety before or during a test include:
- Cognitive strategies (thought stopping and reframing)
- Physical and mental relaxation
- Mental rehearsal
- Self-soothing strategies
- Biofeedback
- Deep breathing
Test anxiety is learned behavior. The association of grades and personal worth also causes anxiety. These feelings usually are derived from a variety of sources including a feeling of lack of control, poor preparation, downright fear, bad study habits, procrastination, low self-esteem and of course poor test review strategies.
You don’t have to suffer from test anxiety. Help is available if you get the right perspective and skills to help you manage the symptoms by learning the tools involved in achievement and performance.
