Test Stress
Test Stress
Do you suffer from test anxiety?
If you do, or have someone close to you who does, then you know that it really is suffering. A little nervousness before an exam can sharpen a person’s attention and help him or her to do better, but tension that is persistent and extreme can prove disastrous.
"It's all in your head."
Extreme anxiety is a problem that comes from the mind trying to be helpful – maybe a little too helpful. When a person perceives some possible threat to himself or herself (physically, emotionally or socially) a part of the brain signals for changes to occur. The heart rate increases, stress hormones are released into the blood stream and blood flow is decreased to the brain and digestive system and increased to the muscles. This is fine if the person is in physical danger and needs only to react, but it is not helpful when one needs to think.
To top it all off, the stress hormones that are released into the blood stream can negatively affect a person’s memory. When scientists gave volunteers a stress hormone (cortisol) they found that memory and thinking ability declined with an increase of the hormone. The longer they were given the hormone, the greater the impact (Archives of General Psychiatry, June 1999). When the hormone got out of the system – the memory and thinking ability returned. That helps to explain the reason a person will know material before and after a test but have difficulty remembering while he or she is taking the exam.
Testing and success in life
Despite the fact that paper testing is not necessarily the best indicator of knowledge or predictor of future success in school or career, the reality is that schools, licensing boards and businesses rely heavily on exams to measure knowledge or expertise and also to decide who will be accepted, or promoted.
It is very frustrating to know the material but not be able to communicate that knowledge. It is embarrassing to have to retake the same test, when others, with no more knowledge, pass it the first time.
Common symptoms of test anxiety
Strategies for doing your best on an exam