Test Anxiety: How To Conquer 3 Thought Patterns That Cause It
Test anxiety is really pathetic. You sacrifice hours and hours, days and days , and night and nights of your best time to study for that big {math, science, english} exam. However when the big day finally arrives and you sit down to do the test your hands become wet like the ocean and you almost completely blank out! All of your hard work, down the drain! I hope to show you 3 causes of test anxiety in order for you to conquer, or at least reduce it, so you will begin to get the marks that truly reflect your knowledge of the subject.
1. One of the main causes of test anxiety is “perfectionism” thinking. Some of us have a tendency to look at the world as if it is either “black or white”. Meaning, a 100 on our test means that we are smart and successful; an 80 or 90 means that we are stupid and that we are failures. There is no in between. Not only is this type of thinking very real destructive, it simply isn’t true; nobody is perfect (I mean NOBODY) and this includes even very successful people.
2. Another cause of test anxiety is the concentrating on past failures. For instance, before they go into the classroom to do their test their mind replays the time that they forgot their part in the schools play (when they were in 1st grade!!). Or they keep on thinking the few paragraphs (out of 20 chapters) that they didn’t completely understand. If you find yourself thinking these thoughts before you go into the test, switch your mind, as fast as possible, to recall and relive your past accomplishments.
3. Catastrophize. Some people conjure in their mind the worst scenarios that might happen if they fail. For instance, they think, “if I don’t do good on this test then I won’t get into college. If I don’t get into college then I won’t get a good job and I’ll live in poverty. If I don’t get a good job I won’t be able to get married…”. Come on, stop this nonsense, this test is only worth 10 percent of your mark and your son is only in the 8th grade! Before you go into your test take a few deep breaths and put this test into perspective. Even if you do flunk this test (which probably is not the case since you studied many long hours for it), there is always the option of summer school.
In short, you don’t have to feel that you are a hostage to your test anxiety. Reprogram your mind to realize that even very successful people produce in the grey zone, to focus on past successes and not only on past failures, and to convince yourself that if you don’t do well on this test doesn’t mean that your whole world has crumbled and you will be on your way to be much calmer when you take exams.
If your child is experiencing test anxiety then I suggest you read Freeing Your Child from Anxiety: Powerful, Practical Solutions to Overcome Your Child’s Fears, Worries, and Phobias
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