Students: Academic Support: Time & Stress Management

Stressed Out?

Test Anxiety and Tips on How to Reduce Your Stress

Symptoms of Test Anxiety

In order to beat text anxiety, it is important to recognize its symptoms. Below you will find some signs that you may be suffering from test anxiety (Wong, 2006).

• Physical: Rapid heartbeat, increased blood pressure, nausea, shakiness, headache, tight muscles, sweating, clammy hands, blurred vision
• Emotional: Fear, anger, frustration, irritability, nervousness, fatigue, depression, hopelessness, panic
• Cognitive: Cluttered memory, poor concentration, lack of clear thinking, limited recall, “going blank,” confusion, fixating on one item for too long, impulsive responses, careless mistakes
• Behavioral: Crying, sobbing, procrastination, strained facial expressions, shaky voice, slumped posture, aggression

Sources of Text Anxiety

How do you beat these symptoms? First, try to pinpoint the cause of your anxiety. Here are some common reasons why students suffer from test anxiety (Wong, 2006).

• Underpreparedness: An awareness that you have not put enough time and effort into reading, completing assignments, studying, or reviewing
• Past experiences: Dwelling on previous negative test-taking experiences that cause low self-esteem and self-confidence
• Fear of failure: Not at all uncommon, this is caused by a fear of not living up to personal standards, standards set by the instructor, and the standards of peers and those close to you
• Poor test-taking skills: Limited experience with different types of tests and test questions, or limited skills in reading, processing, and responding to test questions

Beating Test Anxiety

Now that you can recognize symptoms of test anxiety and you can see where it comes from, what can you do to beat test anxiety? Follow this link <link to Jessica’s test preparation page> for strategies on how to create more effective test preparation strategies to reduce the chance that you will suffer from test anxiety.

If you feel that your test anxiety is overwhelming, know that you are not alone! IUPUI Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) is fully prepared to assist you in assessing your test anxiety and making referrals to get you the help you need. For more information on CAPS and its services, visit http://www.iupui.edu/~sldweb/caps/ .

Adapted from Wong, L. (2006). Essential study skills (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.