Let’s say that there are various forms in which it can occur: some are evident and concern the body, while others are more subtle and related to the mind.
Let’s see in more detail how and where you can feel fear:
- On a physical level: it can present as a pounding heart, abdominal pain, dry mouth, excessive sweating, tachycardia, and all those sensations that, in a normal situation, you would not experience.
- On a mental level: you can have a clouded memory and many negative thoughts that run through your head. For example, you may find yourself constantly thinking about failure, the judgment of others, or the fear of confrontation with the professor.
- Behavioral: You may find yourself more agitated, not sleeping at night, biting your nails, having more appetite than usual, or, conversely, having a stuffy stomach.
Now let’s go deeper and try to understand what are the causes that generate fear. This is important because once you understand the root of the problem, you can more easily identify the best solutions. By the way, you can also have a fear of starting a written assignment, like an essay. But here an easy way out can be found, you could just delegate the task to an essay writing service.
What Are The Causes Of Fear Of Exams?
The causes vary from person to person and can be so many. However, there are some more frequent than others, such as:
- Negative experiences lived. Each of us has had some negative experience which, unfortunately, has created a trauma, large or small. The point is that when you find yourself reliving a similar experience, your brain automatically associates it with the one you have already gone through and therefore you begin to feel fear.
- The awareness of not having studied. It may seem obvious, but if you don’t study properly, it is clear that when you take the exam you are afraid. Imagine having to go to war with only a battered spear and a cardboard shield. You just wouldn’t feel safe, right?
- The lack of a good study method. Oh yes, because without a good method you find yourself improvising. Sometimes it can also be there, but in the long run (especially if you have a lot of material to study) it is not good because it leads you to live in constant uncertainty and, eye, later you may even start to have a phobia of exams!
- Your personality. You tend to be a perfectionist, and this leads you to believe that if you don’t know a thing, even a marginal one, it can cause you problems for the exam. Or you are in constant exam anxiety because your parents put pressure on you or maybe you put it on your own by constantly comparing yourself with others.
Here, we have seen that there are so many causes (and we have not even listed them all). Have you seen yourself in any of them? Don’t worry, now let’s move on to the solutions.
Also read, 5 Tips on How to Prepare for Life After College Graduation
How To Deal With The Fear Of Exams
Here we are, we have come to the most important part of the article. There are many tips and to make them clearer I prefer to divide them into the various phases of an exam. Let’s start immediately with the pre-exam.
- Okay, let’s see some practical tips to get in shape for the exam (and with a lot less fear):
- Eat healthy and light foods such as seasonal fruit, dried fruit, vegetables, dark chocolate, and many other things that you can find in the article about foods that help memory.
- Get some more rest so you can be more productive and effective when you go to study. The ideal is to sleep 7/8 hours a night and, if that’s not enough, try Power Nap.
- Try practicing some mindfulness exercises, in order to be calmer and have the right attitude for when you put yourself on the books.
Conclusion
The exam period can be pretty stressful but, in any case, you should be afraid of it. On the contrary, you have to accept the challenge and end up a winner. We have given you some information on why you might feel afraid of the exam and how to deal with it. Though the tips might seem easy to you, they are certainly worth trying out. You will see that they really work and help perfectly you go through the exam period easily.
