Test Prep: Overcoming Test Anxiety

Perhaps you are approaching your senior year in high school, narrowing down your choice of schools, completing applications, and registering for the SAT test. You are most likely thinking of taking it more than once. Did your stomach flip thinking about the test? Are you worried about that because a lot depends on how well you do?

Unfortunately, the presence of anxiety literally makes us dumber! Anxiety is the fear of a future event. When you are in a state of fear, there are a series of events that occur in the body in a careful and automatically orchestrated way. Long ago it was necessary to ensure the survival of a human being. Today it can be more of an obstacle for most of us because it is rare that our life is really in danger. Unfortunately, our brain does not know the difference between a real threat (a tiger chasing us) and a perceived threat (which does not do well on the SAT test).

In simple terms, this is what happens when we are in a state of fear. Fear causes the amygdala in your brain to send the message that it is time to fight or flee! Cortisol, a stress hormone, is released in your body, digestion is disrupted, and your heart rate increases to bring more blood to your muscles in preparation for fight or flight. Finally, and most importantly, the functioning of the prefrontal cortex is disturbed. The prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain responsible, among other things, for decision making and problem solving. It is vital to take tests but it is superfluous during the flight or flight. Your subconscious mind, which is in charge of this intricate survival system, does not know if it is a real or perceived threat. Simply know that you are afraid and respond accordingly. Overcoming anxiety is an important factor in doing well on the test.

If the usual suggestions for dealing with anxiety don’t relieve you, know that you are not alone. Often these suggestions cannot solve the source of the problem because the the source lies within the subconscious mind.

• If you have had any previous negative experiences In your past regarding “acting,” perhaps during a recital, sporting event, or public speaking, it is probably affecting you today. Your subconscious mind “remembers” the events that caused you concern. From that point on, you have been constantly scanning your environment for the same “clues” to protect you from experiencing this pain again. When you find one, you know it because you experience it as a “worry.”
• These experiences also make us have limiting beliefs such as: “I’m not a good examiner” or “I just know I won’t do well.” These beliefs are most likely residing in your subconscious mind and no amount of positive affirmations or talking about them will help you. Unlike our conscious mind, we cannot talk “to” the subconscious mind.

Can you reach the subconscious mind? Fortunately, in the last 20 years there have been new stress reduction techniques that can be very effective with many problems, including test anxiety. They are easily learned, have the ability to access the subconscious mind, and have been scientifically proven to be effective. Once learned, the individual has a stress reduction tool that they can use to self-manage stress wherever it appears in life.

One of these, EFT, Emotional Freedom Technique, founded by Stanford engineer Gary Craig, uses meridians, the energy pathways within our bodies. You may know them if you’ve ever had acupuncture. Another technique, Psych-K, allows us to test and change the sabotaging beliefs that reside in our subconscious mind for beliefs in support of our goals.

If test anxiety continues to be a problem for you, I encourage you to explore and learn about these techniques. Wouldn’t it feel great to enter the test feeling calm and confident? Wouldn’t it be great if you knew you would be fine? As Henry Ford said: “If you think you can do something or you think you can do nothing, you are right.”

by Renee Meyers, CPC, EFT Int-1