"Three tests, a quiz, two projects, and an essay due, after school sports, my BFF is acting strange, my parents need me at this dinner function tonight till at least 9pm and I'm fuiling all this with Coke and bubble tea. I'm 14 years old and I guess this is preparation for a successful future. Umm, maybe after this childhood experience my generation will be the one's to redefine 'success.'"
Although many changes can be made to reduce stress and live a more manageable life. One stressor that is fairly unavoidable in school (unless you drop-out, but don't do that) is test taking. Test's of one kind or another are inevitable, especially if you want to get by in the modern world.
Test anxiety (stress due to test taking) is more common than you may think. One large scale study reveals that as many as 61% of high school students suffer some form of test anxiety on occasion and as many as 26% suffer test anxiety "almost always" (Bradley et al., 2010). The silver lining on this dark cloud is that it reveals that you're not alone! Right now, all over the world there are other teens and tweens preparing for and taking tests and many of them are experiencing some anxiety too. Because of all this unhealthy test-stress on your generation, professionals in various fields of study, have worked hard on figuring out the best ways to deal with the anxiety that comes from this unavoidable stressor - test taking.
Now, keep in mind that a manageable level of anxiety before a test can be a good thing. It can keep you sharp, at your best, alert, and ready to show the teacher that you could have written the test yourself! :) On the other hand, an unmanageable level of anxiety can have all the opposite effects. It can make you sweat, shake, and have dry mouth, blank-out, on edge, sleepy, and ready to quit. What we want to know is how to deal with that unmanageable level of anxiety so that we can appreciate that manageable level and do our best on any test. Here's what the experts say:
Our mind, brain, body, and emotions all work very closely together. In fact, the one can cause changes in the other and vice-versa (Bradley et al., 2010). For example, stressful thoughts about a negative future outcome can increase the heart rate. The increased heart rate can inturn cause higher blood pressure, a release of a chemical called adrenaline and the sweaty palms, shakes, and dry mouth begin. On the other hand, an increased heart rate (especially if it's erratic) can communicate to the brain that something is wrong. The brain sends signals to your body and your mind produces emotions associated with anxiety, depression, etc. In one case the mind (the negative thoughts) started the process and in the other case the heart started the process. In both cases the end result was unwanted anxiety.
What do we do then to control and eradicate the unwanted anxiety? The answer is we take good care of and monitor the mind/brain, body, and emotions. If our emotions are not what we want (i.e. unwanted anxiety) we need to take a look at our body and mind/brain connection. If we take care of the mind/brain and body they will take care of us by producing just the right levels of the emotions we need for any given situation (this is may not be the case if you have a disorder). This is how God engineered us and it is brilliant!
Dealing with the heart. Tackling test anxiety does not begin a few minutes or even hours before the test. Dealing with test anxiety is a daily decision that you make. It's present in all the decisions that you make concerning your heart; food choice, drink choice, exercise, and breathing habits all play key roles in test anxiety. A very unpopular, but extremely relevant, example would be drink choice. Many teens today are choosing to consume caffeine. Caffeine, however, is a stimulant, like the drug cocaine (although a much lower potency than cocaine), and increases the heart rate (in some this increase is more significant than in others). If a student is already prone to unwanted test anxiety and consumes a Coke or a bubble tea before a test, the increased heart rate that will result from the stimulant is busy sending messages to the brain and the brain is releasing chemicals that will increase anxiety. In each category, food choice, drink choice, exercise, and breathing habits, examples can be given but suffice it to say that how we treat our heart makes a big difference in how our body and mind/brain treat us.
Dealing with the mind/brain. What we tell ourselves, the perceptions we have about life experiences, and the messages from others (especially the media) that we allow to influence us all play a part in test anxiety. For example, if your identity (your perception of your self-worth) is dependent on always getting an "A" then, of course, you're much more likely to have self-defeating thoughts that lead to unwanted test anxiety. Just like in dealing with the heart, this means that tackling test anxiety does not begin minutes before the test or even hours before but begins with the daily decisions that you make concerning your self-talk, and what you allow to influence you.
What you can do hours and moments before a test. First of all, consider making wiser food and drink choices; make it a life change challenge if you need to and try it for just 1 week. I guarantee you, if you will cut-out all caffeine and refined white sugar consumption you will feel so much better in every way (after withdrawal symptoms subside of course). In addition, increase your vegetable and fruit intake to at least 3 servings of each per day. And find some way to exercise. Exercise is a major stress reliever and releases the "feel-good" chemicals that you need to have a positive outlook on life.
In addition:
30 min. before a test, monitor your breathing and make sure that you are taking slow, deep, and steady breaths. Actually envision your heart slowing down (which it will do because of the deep breathing). While monitoring your breathing, take a brisk walk, do some jumping jacks, push-ups, etc.
While continuing to monitor your breathing and keeping your body moving, monitor your thoughts and "discipline" your perceptions. Tell yourself (ask God to speak to you about this matter) that "success is not found in grades, popularity, being #1, etc. but it is found in being content with how God has made me." Remind yourself that you have done what is expected of you as a developing student and that the test is simply an opportunity to finish a unit, subject, etc. and move on to other learning. Discipline your perceptions by aligning them with truth, not error. For example, if your perception of yourself is distorted because of some mean things that were said of you because of a poor grade that you once got, tell your perception that it is time to change. Change that perception with a statement of truth: "Everyone gets a poor grade here and there and it does not negatively affect their future or who they are as a child of God. I will get a poor grade here and there too and it will not negatively affect my future or who I am as a child of God." If you find yourself having self-defeating thoughts like, "This teacher is out to get me." or "I'm probably going to fail this test." dispute these thoughts. The way you engage in disputation with your negative thoughts is to play detective and look for evidence that these self-defeating thoughts are true. For example, if you have the thought, "I'm probably going to fail the test." ask yourself, "What's the evidence? Have I failed a test in this class before? Do I really not know anything that will be on the test? Is it true that this teacher's tests are so hard that even someone who has studied is likely to fail?" Usually, you will quickly see that there is no evidence for your self-defeating thought and you can safely disregard it with a smile.
As you can see, combating test anxiety and the anxiety that comes from your busy schedules is something that you can do for yourself by making the right choices every single day. This does not mean that there are not special situations where these suggestions will make little to no difference, like someone dealing with a severe anxiety disorder, but for most, these suggestions are worth a try. After all, the worst that can happen is a healthier mind and body.
Bradley, R. T., Mccraty, R., Atkinson, M., Tomasino, D., Daugherty, A., & Arguelles, L. (2010). Emotion self-regulation,
psychophysiological coherence, and test anxiety: Results from an experiment using electrophysiological
measures. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback,35(4), 261-83. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10484-010-
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