Our lives are stressful. We don’t need to fight ancient predators or hunt for food to feel threatened — today, things related to our success, academic performance, and social perceptions are more pressing. Exams are regularly the primary source of stress for those students who view them as the cornerstone of their growth. And it’s totally understandable. Just think of this: a specific date. Prepare — no chance for turning back. Sounds scary already, doesn’t it? Our fears aren’t easy to control. But there’s a way to turn our stress before exams into something less uncomfortable or build your mental confidence anew.
Why We Fear Exams
Let’s be honest: exams are just paper with questions. Alright, sometimes they are screens with questions. Or a person listening to your rambling (hey, we’ve all been doing it!) while sipping coffee. When we look at it like that, the idea that we fear exams might seem silly. However, it’s not: there are reasons for our nerves getting the best of us. When analyzing the reasons for mental health difficulties associated with tests, the liven app has identified the leading culprits behind exam anxiety. Understanding them will empower individuals to move toward their emotional and psychological well-being.
The Biology of Our Exam Anxiety
In the simplest of terms, our reaction to anxiety is rooted in the fight or flight response we all have. When we face a test or exam, even if it’s low-stakes, our mind reacts to it as if it’s a severe threat to our lives. The amygdala, the brain’s fear center, kicks into high gear, triggering the release of cortisol and adrenaline. This leads to the feeling of nausea, mental fog, shaking, and sweating. If you’ve noticed having these before certain academic events, it means your brain takes exams as a severe danger. It was helpful for our ancestors, but it’s hardly practical when we have only notes and A B Cs to fight.
Social Pressure as a Modern-Day Predator
We measure success in terms that are crucial for our role in society. Having one’s name at the top of the student list can go into our head and give us a sense of being important or cool. In truth, society will always put up new views on achievement, and we can’t chase after all of them. Plus, having an A isn’t a thing you will remember when you’re old and think of your life’s great deeds — so it’s helpful to shift from this artificial measure of how great of a person you are and find the ones that really matter.
The Child Within — How Our Past Frames Our Fears
A lot of people are afraid of failure because they have been raised to seek only perfection. As a child, you might have been criticized for not being at the top of your class. Or, if you were praised only when you achieved something, you might have internalized this. Therefore, you feel like you deserve self-love only if you study perfectly.
Strategies to Overcome Stress Before Exams
Now that you know why you are afraid of those exams ahead, you can approach new behaviors more effectively. Try all of the tips below — some might be an ideal match, while others won’t work. It’s okay. Use them as inspiration for healing yourself.
Reframing — Take Those Scared Glasses Off
Reframing is one of the most effective practices of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). It taps into our thinking patterns and offers ways to shift how we view events like exams. This fear of exams is rooted in some thinking distortions, like catastrophizing, all-or-nothing thinking, and so on.
Start by writing down your thoughts or beliefs about the exam. Don’t sugarcoat it; be honest. For example, you can write, “I will fail the exam and everyone will laugh at how stupid I am.”
Then, challenge it. Question the validity of this belief. Write down, “Is it true that I will fail the exam entirely?” (Probably not true.) Question the next belief, too: “Will everyone laugh at me?” (Very likely not true — such things rarely happen outside TV dramas.)
Write down a more realistic thought. For example, “I might not do all questions right, but I prepared, and I’ll do just fine. No one will laugh — everyone will be busy thinking about their own results.” This thought isn’t a victim of toxic positivity, though, making it so believable.
Try Gradual Exposure to Unlearn This Fear
Exposure is another excellent CBT practice. Many people who used to be afraid of spiders, public speaking, or exams have managed to face their fears or even completely overcome them.
Exposure isn’t about diving into the situation immediately and trying not to die out of dread. It’s about gradually exposing yourself to it. When speaking about exams, you can ask your friend or family member to simulate an exam situation with you, with all the critical elements (clothes, questions, even a cold room) included.
If that’s a bit too much, start by imagining the exam situation. Make these exposure sessions based on the type of exam and what you are afraid of. Over time, you will get less anxious thinking about it.
Give Breathing and Relaxation Techniques a Try
We know some might find these too familiar or not persuasive enough, especially given how often they are mentioned. However, breathing exercises are used by first responders, law enforcement, and military personnel, so they clearly work.
Tactical breathing is a way to reduce one’s stress that’s also used by the Navy Medicine specialists.
1. Breathe in. Count to 4 as you do so.
2. Hold your breath. Do this as you count to 4.
3. Release your breath. Again, count to 4.
As you repeat it, you will slowly calm down, and your breathing and heartbeat will normalize.
Draw an exam in perspective
How serious is the exam for your life, anyway? Let’s draw it. Imagine your life as a mountain or a long path. Highlight the milestones you already had and provide the ones you hope to achieve. Then, mark this exam on the same path or mountain, even if you’ve gone through it already. Vary the size of the dots on the map based on how vital each event is. Do you notice this exam as crucial as going to the prom, finding your perfect job, or falling in love? Write your reflections near the drawing: “My life is an exciting list of opportunities, and the exam is insignificant compared to other events in it.”
Create a positive end point of the AFTER
Have you noticed that the exam ahead often feels like a final point in your life or day? Some students notice that they don’t think about what will happen in the future after they pass the exam. That’s because you’ve framed it as the central point of everything that matters to you.
Set a different final point for yourself. Have you been promising yourself to read that perfect ending of the book you’ve bought? Or maybe you’ve been wanting to go on a date with that person you like so much? According to techtimes.com, shifting your focus to something enjoyable after a stressful event can significantly reduce anxiety. When you frame your thinking in a way that puts another event in its place, you pull the emotional weight off the exam and give it to something more meaningful. So, you start to anticipate something after the exam and might even drop all the worry altogether.
Exams are a minor part of our lives; when we give them more power over us, we take away the pleasure of living. Finding the right strategies that make the exam just another point in your day will allow you to use the freed-up space for things that matter. Remember: approach this with self-compassion and patience, and results will come.
