Exam Nerves

Definition:

An irrational fear of exam situations where a person suffers uncontrollable stress and anxiety that can impact on the person's ability to perform well in the examination.

Description:

Examinations can be a very stressful experience especially when there is a lot of pressure placed on the participant. There may also be high expectations of the individual to perform well. This can therefore be a particularly stressful situation, but only if the person feels there is a lot at stake.

Feelings of anxiety, panic, nervousness will be associated with thoughts of those exams as they draw closer and closer and a person's mind will begin to focus more and more on those exams. Examinations are complusory and there is no avoidance which can make things worse as it is therefore something that has to be dealt with whether a person likes it or not. A person cannot use avoidance as a coping mechanism. This leaves very little choice for the individual and can therefore add to the already distracting feelings of stress.

When a person suffers from stress, they will go through a form of emotional analysis and determine the significance of the problem and it's importance for the future (and every educational institute will remind you on a weekly basis just how important those exams really are!). A person who suffers from exam nerves does so because of their lack of confidence in their ability to do well. They feel they lack the required resources to handle them in a suitable way.

They will project themselves into the future imagining things going wrong, even having dreams about how badly they did in the exam perhaps imagining themselves running out of time and only managing to answer one question. To the subconscious mind whether you're imagining something going wrong in the future, present or remembering something going wrong in the past, it makes no difference, your body will react to the thought as if it is happening now. There is no distinction of time, it is irrelevant and every negative thought about the exam is transferred into stress which builds up over time.

What can result is a self fulfilling prophecy. Imagining yourself doing badly in an exam, you build up an expectation, during the exam the subconscious realises your surroundings and acts accordingly as it understands this is an examination situation - you therfore fail your exam.

Therapy

In the same way your mind is able to imagine things going badly, we can utilise the power of the subconscious to imagine the opposite. Using positive suggestion and guided imagery you can build a positive future, imagining things going well. Remember that self-fulfilling prophecy. Creating a positive expectation, means experiencing that expectation.

Therapy will also help an individual strengthen those resource they feel they lack, help build their confidence in a way that will enable them to emotionally analyse the situation and understand they are prepared with an adequate arsenal of resources at their disposal. Once this is understood on a subconscious level, a person can begin to focus on what's important - the actual subject material!

Now that the mind is less cluttered with worry, there is more capacity to engage in the subject and study well.

Book your FREE initial consultation online | Request more information
Mbl: 07737 162 560 | Tel: 0117 922 7788 (UK based:Bristol)