Just about everyone will experience some level of exam nerves. No matter how you revise. How well you know the material or how confident you are in your subject. A little stress with exams can be a good thing. It can be the motivational push we need to get all that revision and assignment work completed. However sometimes, dealing with stress, especially during exam season, with the need to balance multiple subjects, and topics within them, can be a difficult thing to manage. Then add in anxiety, stress and diminishing confidence and it massively escalates all those unhelpful thoughts! And what if scenarios, which always seem to be worst case situations, which spiral out of control! This can lead to underperforming in the exam room. This underperforming can be related to a negative previous experience of exams, poor preparation, worry about failure, or pressure to perform.
Feeling Nervous
Some nerves are normal and nervous feelings don’t take over your everyday life. You could feel this way thinking about your exams, during revision or while taking a test. These feelings of nervousness go away once you have gone through the situation, and you still feel able to face similar situations in the future. Learning helpful coping mechanisms, such as breathing techniques, can usually help you to combat these feelings.
Exam Anxiety
Exam anxiety is a more ongoing feeling. If you struggle to feel calm, or feel like you are constantly dreading exams, tests, or revision, and these feelings persist in your day to day life, disrupting other activities, it could be a sign you are experiencing anxiety.
Physical and psychological symptoms can include:
- Sweaty palms or a racing heart
- Nausea or dizziness
- Tension & headaches
- Butterflies in your stomach
- Dry mouth
- Self doubt, fear of failure
You may also feel…
- The need to avoid places or situations that remind you of your upcoming exams or tests
- A suffocating feeling of dread, anxiety or overwhelm
- Start exhibiting negative coping behaviours
You may take some comfort in that you are not alone! Exam nerves and anxiety can hit at any age. A recent survey shows round 56% of students report poor mental health or well-being as a result of stress with exams.
But what can be done to help your stress with exams?
Hypnotherapy can be used to help control exam nerves as it can boost confidence, promote relaxation, and reduce feelings of anxiety and stress. It can also help you develop the ability to access the calm sate of your mind, which is needed to sit an exam or cope with a potentially overwhelming situation. The way you feel and behave is based on the prediction pattern. You have developed this, from past exam and test experiences. Your subconscious mind now expects you to feel anxious, and so you do!
With hypnotherapy we can challenge your subconscious mind’s expectations, reduce negative emotions attached to previous experiences, and refocus on feelings of calm and confidence. The power of suggestion and visualisation techniques under hypnosis, can encourage an individual to clear their racing mind and approach the exam with a cool, calm, focussed head. This allows you to recall the information easily and correctly, and restore your self-belief!
I do offer a complimentary discovery call, so why not book this in today? And find out how we can work together using Hypnotherapy to combat your anxiety and stress with exams?
You can also view my short youtube clip below for further information:
Stress with Exams YouTube clipAll the best, Steve
