Exam Anxiety

Exam anxiety can lead to poor performance during a test, in preparation to a test or to anxiety afterwards when you are evaluating results in your mind. Small levels of stress or concern can be beneficial in order to maintain your focus and motivation, but when your stress and anxiety are high and prevent you from reaching your potential, it is time to get help. 

Exam anxiety is a type of performance anxiety. It is also sometimes referred to as anticipatory, situational or evaluation anxiety. These are all very descriptive and can give important clues to what is a relatively common psychological condition amongst students regardless of their age.

Research suggests that as many 40% of students experience exam anxiety at some point in their lives!

Did you know that when you suffer from exam anxiety, not only it is unpleasant physically and mentally, it can have significant impact on the performance of the working memory? When your mind is busy worrying and ruminating, it has reduced amount of resources to deal with the task in hand. It takes more effort and time to complete a complex task. And because the processing efficiency of the working memory is also impacted, the accuracy of easy tasks is also compromised. Definitely not a win-win situation!

The physical symptoms of exam anxiety vary in severity from 'butterflies in stomach' to nausea. See here the list of different anxiety symptoms. The behavioural symptoms also vary, from procrastination to panic attacks and you may experience a lot of negative self talk, constant worry and ruminations.

How can Hypnotherapy and Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy (CBH) help?

There is a strong evidence base for the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioural Therapies in the treatment of anxiety disorders, so CBH combines Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Hypnotherapy to increase their effectiveness. Research into the adjunctive use of hypnosis in treatment of exam anxiety demonstrates that only few sessions of hypnosis with CBT can decrease exam anxiety and improve exam performance.

Hypnotherapy is a highly effective treatment of anxiety disorders as it helps by uncovering the unhelpful thoughts, beliefs and behaviours that go with it and by replacing them with more beneficial ones.

You will learn how to reduce stress and how to let go of anxious thoughs, as well as self-help techniques and will be given helpful practices for between the sessions. These may include Self-Hypnosis, Mindfulness, NLP, EFT, EMT or CBT techniques.

The sessions will help you;

• • Reduce stress & increase relaxation integrating breathing styles that lessen associated symptoms

  • Identify & resolve unhelpful beliefs that may be causing anxiety

  • Let go of anxious thoughts and minimise negative self talk and worrisome thinking

  • Rebuild confidence and self-esteem

  • Mentally prepare for future situations

Contact Teija now for an appointment: info@enablepotential.com

As with any medical condition you should always see your GP first to discuss your symptoms and treatment options first and to rule out any potential underlying causes of your symptoms