How to overcome stress before exams

Is it time to take an exam and notes that your children are afraid and distressed? It is normal and there is a solution for it. But it is important to solve it because the stress before the exams It is a serious problem, not only because of the high percentage of students who suffer from it, but also because it has a very negative effect on their performance.

How many times did it happen to us in our youth that nerves played a trick on us before an exam? Helping our children cope with the stress of exam weeks is key not only to improve their performance but, above all, their well-being. A very high number of students who suffer school failure do not have learning difficulties or lower abilities than the rest of their classmates, but suffer very high levels of anxiety before the exams that prevent them from being able to concentrate and pass the tests.


The effects that anxiety has on performance are quite clear and occur mainly under certain conditions: when the instructions are threatening ("Your future depends on this", "if you suspend you will have to repeat"), when there is time pressure or When the task is complex and requires a high level of concentration. So, how to survive the exams?

What is anxiety

Anxiety is an emotion, always experienced as unpleasant and negative, that arises in a situation in which the individual perceives a threat. The anxiety response is automatic and innate, but those things that are perceived as threatening are learned by our previous experiences. Therefore, each person feels different situations as threats.


How test anxiety manifests

Anxiety manifests itself in three different planes:

1. In the body: by increasing the heart rate (tachycardia), increased respiratory rate, presence of sweating, tension and muscle tremors, respiratory distress, dry mouth, difficulty swallowing and gastric discomfort, among others. In turn, these physiological changes can lead to a series of transient psychophysiological disorders, such as headaches, insomnia, nausea, dizziness, erectile dysfunction, muscle contractures, gastric dysfunction, etc.

2. In the mind: through feelings of discomfort, worry, hypervigilance, tension, fear, insecurity, feeling of loss of control, difficulty deciding, staying blank, presence of negative thoughts about oneself or about our performance before others, fear that they will realize of our weaknesses, difficulties to think, study, or concentrate and perception of strong physiological changes.


3. In behavior: through hyperactivity, repetitive movements, difficulties in communication (stuttering), high consumption of food or substances (such as coffee, tobacco or stimulant drinks), crying, tension in the facial expression, presence of avoidance responses to the situation that produces the anxiety, biting the nails, etc.

How can our children cope with stress before exams?

1. They have to adopt healthy lifestyle habits, especially in the exam period: we have to recommend that they try to sleep well, that they do not stop doing sports (it is good for them, even if they "take away" study time) and we will take special care of their diet.

2. They must use an effective technique in the study: we must provide them with a defined, comfortable, illuminated place, with a pleasant temperature; uses outlines, summaries and reviews.

3. They have to be motivated: They have to know why they study, what they aspire to and what their training as people brings them.

4. They have to work mental preparation: before starting the study they can use deep breathing and muscle relaxation by tensing and relaxing different muscle groups. For example, tense your forehead for a few seconds and then relax it. They will feel the relaxing sensation that this produces and learn to identify tension states of the muscles to relax them immediately.

Sofia Carriles. Psychologist

Video: Exam Stress Releasing Tips and Techniques


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