The phenomenon of exam is a reality that we all encounter at some point in our lives. Every year, millions of families seek to do their best for the success of their children who are preparing for exams. The examination process affects not only the life of the child, but also the life of the whole family. The success of our child in the exams he/she enters is closely related to the psychology in this process as well as being adequately prepared for the exams. Exam anxiety, lack of self-confidence, lack of motivation, problems in adolescence, problems in family relationships, attention deficit-hyperactivity, specific learning disorder, depression, social phobia, obsessions, problems arising from not knowing learning and effective study strategies affect the child’s exam success.
Could your child be experiencing test anxiety?
If your child can’t sleep the night before the exam, if he/she gets excited in the exam and does not succeed even though he/she has studied very well and knows, if he/she has tension or discomfort in the stomach and abdomen during the exam, if he/she suffers from cold sweats and headaches, if he/she forgets what he/she knows, because of carelessness If he makes a lot of mistakes, he may be experiencing test anxiety.
It is natural and necessary for every student who is responsible, has a goal and strives to achieve this, to feel some anxiety before such exams in which his knowledge is evaluated. Because if anxiety is low, it has a motivational and performance-enhancing effect on the person. But when anxiety rises above the desired level, it negatively affects the attention, learning and memory functions of the person and reduces success and motivation. Exam Anxiety is an intense anxiety that prevents the knowledge learned before the exam from being used effectively during the exam and leads to a decrease in success. Students with exam anxiety have difficulties in planning their studies, thinking correctly, concentrating, and remembering the subjects they studied. As the stress increases, negative thoughts begin to occupy the student’s mind. As a result, depending on the degree of anxiety and stress, symptoms such as restlessness, irritability, difficulty concentrating, insomnia, stomachache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, tremor, palpitation, sweating appear in the person even days before the exam. Some students are; more complaints of head, neck and back pain, and inability to sleep peacefully. As the exam approaches, there may be a significant decrease in the desire to study, stagnation, and introversion. They either talk a lot or develop callousness about the exam day.
As the exam approaches, the symptoms increase more and depending on the severity of the distress, it sometimes causes the student to leave the exam or even to be unable to take the exam. As a result, it may cause the failure of a student who may be very successful academically.
What are the negative thoughts that cause test anxiety?
The person experiencing exam anxiety is constantly chasing negative thoughts and scenarios about himself and the exam. So to speak, he believes himself in the scenario produced by his own mind. He engages in a self-punishing attitude that constantly talks internally and criticizes himself. He compares himself with others, thinks ‘what will others say’, ‘My sister won, if I do not win, I will be disgraced to my teachers, my family, they expect too much from me, others work better than me, it is not possible for me to win, if I forget what I know, I am not prepared enough, the time will not be enough, it is definitely bad something will happen, I will not be successful, I will be distracted, if I shift the questions, if time is not enough, I will forget everything in the exam, my hand will sweat, my stomach will hurt…’ constantly negative thoughts come to mind.
