Is it possible to be free from exam stress?
Many of us I am sure have suffered with test anxiety at some stage in our life. Taking exams is bound to be stressful because of what’s at stake. Pressure from ourselves, families, schools and universities to succeed. The fear of failure, letting yourself down, not being good enough. Fearful that you’ll miss out on a college, university place, job or career move.
With so much at stake many students are in a constant state of stress, taking exams can be serious stumbling blocks. No matter how prepared they are, or how hard they study, their minds go blank.
Feeling overwhelmed, trouble sleeping, migraines, headaches, poor appetite increased anxiety and irritability . . . and that’s just the parents!
From my experience of helping many students over the years, these are some of the common areas I have found that cause problems:
Pre-test anxiety
The pressure to do well and not let oneself down can flood the mind with worry and make it difficult to access the information when needed.
Procrastination
Difficulty starting work and always finding something else to do. The constant build up of pressure and stress.
Overwhelm
As exam time approaches, doubts and fears begin to surface. Panic starts to build as students are continually going over there notes because the information isn’t going in.
Perfectionism
The fear of failure, never feeling good enough and a constant desire to look good in the eyes of others. As the exams approach, students sense the pressure building, especially as they dread putting themselves in a position where they may fail.
Conventional methods for treating test anxiety include developing good study habits, exercise, trying to keep a positive attitude, eating well and trying to sleep.
All of the above can make a difference, but when someone’s feeling anxious and their nervous system is firing off, this can cause a problem.
How can EFT help?
It was the day of my daughter Carys’s final exam. This was her last year at University and she had prepared for these exams, better than at anytime in her life. She wanted to do well and look back with no regrets knowing that she had done her best.
Days before she felt calm, confident and eager to get on with it. However, when she woke up on that day, her critical inner voice began its work, she began to doubt herself and panic. The bodies fight or filight system had been triggered, her thinking became fuzzy and the creative problem solving part of her mind felt like it was shutting down – just when she needed it!!
When nerves turn to fear
She was feeling desperate, phoned me and I went to see her. We did some ‘tapping’, the strongest negative emotion was, the fear of failure, letting herself down and worried that she hadn’t done enough work. This scaled 10 out of 10.
This is really common with students taking exams, there is that logical side of them that knows they have done the work, but when the nerves turn to fear, logic goes out of the window and no amount of reassurance from friends and family seems to help.
We tapped on this negativity for a couple of rounds, Carys began to feel more relaxed, the number dropped to 7. We tapped again on her fears and the number dropped to 4, she felt calmer, lighter more optimistic. Now Carys’s mind was free of the negative we introduced some positive affirmations; how she would like to feel when taking her exam; calm, excited – see this as an opportunity and not a threat!
Invisible Sheild
Her exam was at 1pm that day, she felt so much better and was now eager to get on with it. The one concern she was left with however, was meeting up with her friends before the exam, talking about the subject and being worried again as they may make her feel there were areas she should have covered. I know this may sound incredible, but we were able to tap on this not affecting her at all, like she had an invisible shield around her protecting her against the negativity.
Carys was thrilled to be able to take that exam later that day, feeling calm focused and able to walk away satisfied that she did her best.
A positive reframe was the key
When I first spoke to Carys, her mind was full of fear and doubt. She of course wanted to feel calm, positive confident, but felt helpless. Using EFT we were able to start exactly where Carys was with her emotions and remove the negative feelings and sensations. Then her mind was ready to fully experience the benefits of positive thinking.
This I feel is the beauty of this wonderful simple technique it can be used to tackle negativity straight on and clear the way for a positive reframe-happy days!
I was able to help Carys with her pre-test anxiety and feeling overwhelmed. EFT is also ideal for dealing with the underlying emotional reasons why we procrastinate and can also help a perfectionist be more forgiving of themself.
If you struggle with nerves when taking exams and would like to give tapping a go, click on this link to my free 5 min video: How to deal with Exam Stress using EFT-Tapping
What have been your experiences? If you have been in a similar position to Carys, how difficult was it to change the way you felt? Have you found an effective way of dealing with stress? I welcome your feed back, so maybe leave a comment. Or if you would like to speak in confidence, or book a free consultation please email me at sean@confidenceontap.com
P.S Special student offer with my one to one sessions. Normally £45 Now only £30 (offer ends 28th February ) Sessions can be on zoom, skype, facetime or phone
If you would like help to get the grades you deserve – contact me now!
You’ve nothing to lose but your nerves . . .