Test Anxiety

Wish I could help you. I have always had test anxiety to the nth degree! The only thing I can suggest is being prepared, which I know isn't any big revelation. The one thing I wouldn't recommend is medication. I once took a couple of anti-anxiety pills my Mom had been prescribed. Oh I was very relaxed and calm going into the exam. Those things were the best! I also failed the exam in a spectacular way with the lowest mark in the class.

The following site offers a little info that is good.

http://www.utoronto.ca/health/shop/vol1no1.htm

This site has suggestions on how to learn material. (thereby minimizing stress)

http://www.ksu.edu/counseling/strestst.html

There are a lot more if you just plug in "exam anxiety" into Google.

I hope some of this helps!!

u ask me, u ignore anythin that counsellors have to say and just accept that you're not good at tests...its happens to the best of us

dont take any drugs, for starters ar ull wind up being dependent on them...ur gonna have to do so many tests in ur life that thats not such a great idea

look over what you did before the test..is it one u need to revise for? if so then ur revision techniques need brushing up is the only problem

there is always a way of overcoming things like this, and failure is generally a fairly good motivation for finding out how...dont dwell over labels councellors may want to give u

tyrius- This is a method that I used to use a long time ago, in tests of multiple choice. Look at a question. If the answer does not jump out at you, go on to the next one. Just do the ones that you know. When you have finiished those, go back to the beginning of the test, and answer the ones from that group that are the easiest, and so on. Keep going back to the beginning, until the time is up, and you have answered all that you can.

The rationale behind this is that I did not want to become frustrated from the getgo, and spend a lot of time on those questions that I did not know.
It also made me feel more secure after I had answered a lot of questions that I DID know, and made me less anxious about the others. Good Luck!

With trixabell. Ignore the councelors. You did bad on a test, they put a name to it, and suddenly, you have "A Problem." That's how they justify their jobs.

I'm also inclined to say that if you expected better, it's because you have done better in the past. You will again.

Hi, Tyrius. Is this across the board or in a subject or two that you feel anxious? Some anxiety is appropriate, given that we don't always have command of the material at a given point in time, or that you hope to be at your sharpest.
I think many of us have anxiety at key performance times in tests and work and learn to sort of use it, kind of key up for the situation.

A few years ago, I had to (notice the had, instead of got to...) give a speech in front of a couple of hundred people on my favorite subject, italian piazzas, and I knew the material cold. As the person introduced me, I could remember nothing, nothing, of what I wanted to talk about. Nothing. Walked up to the podium and made some sort of hi everybody chit chat, and then just started in, off script entirely, and then with faces smiling at me, just got going on the material. Have had almost the opposite happen too, ugh. On tests, sometimes I was great on tests, sometimes not. They come and they go. Actually understanding the material is the best defense for temporary fear/anxiety, though I am guessing you understood it but were just shaky in a test situation.

I remember my grade school fondly (I know you are in high school) in that at that time the questions were short, and one could have a friend or parent ask questions ahead of time as a kind of practice, if they were around. You can sort of do that yourself as you read text material..... covering the page with your notebook and seeing if you can summarize what you just read...

Anyway, you are clearly smart and just need to spiff up the test taking.

I always try to eat healthy (starting the day before) and get a good night's sleep. Ever think of bringing a thermos of warm non-caffinated tea with you? Tea can be very comforting. Breathing & stretching are also good.