What is test anxiety?

You sit down to take a test—your heart pounds, your palms sweat, your mind goes blank and you suddenly can’t think.

You’re experiencing test anxiety.

But what causes it and what can you do to tackle it so it doesn’t impede your success?

Test anxiety is the experience of fear or worry before, during and/or after an exam. Anxiety is an emotion, an automatic, physical response to the perception of threat. The key word here is “perception.” Anxiety is a response to our thoughts, beliefs and ideas.

Worried thoughts related to taking a test might include: “What if I fail? What if I don’t score high enough? It would be a disaster. I’d let myself and other people down. I’d waste everything I’ve invested. It would prevent me from succeeding (getting licensed, admission to a top grad school, achieving my goals, etc.).”

When there’s real danger, anxiety is good. It protects us by increasing our heart rate, moving blood to our extremities, releasing nutrients for muscular action, creating tunnel vision, and more, so we can fight or flee.

But when there’s no threat, over time, anxiety can cause fatigue, muscular tension, restlessness, blurred vision, problems with concentration, sleep problems, irritability and more. It can also lead to behaviors to avoid the perceived threat (e.g., over-studying or under-studying for an exam).

Being able to take and perform well on tests is crucial for success. Whether scoring well on the MCAT, LSAT, or GRE; passing the bar exam, medical step exams, or other licensing requirements—the path to becoming a professional requires passing and scoring well on tests.

Excessive test anxiety can impede your performance, negatively affect your scores, and prevent you from achieving your educational and professional dreams.

So what can you do to prevent test anxiety from getting the best of you? There are three main strategies: cognitive (thinking) strategies, behavioral strategies, and test-specific strategies.

To learn more about how to tackle test anxiety, click here to schedule a coaching session with me in my calendar.