anxiety disorder test

anxiety disorder test

There are many situations that cause anxiety, but there are some, such as public speaking, have a job interview or examination, in which a large percentage of people with high levels of anxiety. Generally no one likes to be evaluated, the connotation of "judgment" involved any review, makes people who have to submit to it not usually be comfortable. All students feel anxiety when they have to take an exam, in fact this is one factor that motivates them to study. There are different levels of anxiety ranging from mild nervousness or restlessness nervousness up that can make us feel paralyzed.

It has been shown that students who experience high anxiety about examinations suffer from a significant decline in performance, tend to defer study or pay and get lower scores than if they were able to manage their anxiety, even getting ready properly ,

It is estimated that approximately 15% and 25% of students have high levels of test anxiety.

The causes of anxiety about exams can be related to external factors such as the type of examination forms of study, time management study, the number of reviewers, or personal factors that are related to the assessment and personal meaning students do on the state exam. So the same situation review, different students taking different valuations make a wide range of reactions, including anxiety would.

The anxiety about exams is manifested in four ways and in different degrees and forms. Are four areas affected:

Manifestations

Gastrointestinal symptoms.

Frequent urination.

Increased or decreased appetite.

General tension.

Tachycardia.

Sweating.

Tremor.

Contractures.

Tics.

Headaches.

Shortness of breath and chest tightness.

EMOTIONAL

Susceptibility.

Irritability.

Nervousness.

Anguish.

Aggressiveness.

Anger.

Fear of failure.

Fear paralyzed.

Apathy.

BEHAVIORAL

Restlessness.

Stuttering and / or difficulty speaking.

Nervous tone.

Insomnia and / or difficulty sleeping.

Increased consumption of snuff, drugs and / or alcohol.

Avoidance behaviors and / or flight.

Postponements.

COGNITIVE

Difficulty concentrating.

Feeling confused.

Phenomenon blank mind.

Distraction.

Concern for performance.

Concern about the negative consequences of failing.

Concern for the physical sensations.

Perfectionism.

A cognitive or mental anxiety begins to activate early when the student begins to worry about the exam. The types of concern that students often have high levels of anxiety are related to negative expectations about one's performance on the test ("If I stay with a blank mind, I disapprove"), the negative consequences of failing ("If you disapprove, do not get the job I want"), to concerns about the possible emergence of physical sensations ("If I decompose, I can not finish"), managing time ("I do not reach the time") and the judgment of others ("If I do not pass, they will think I'm useless").

Such concerns may occur before or during the examination, interfere with the resolution of the task and produces a lower yield than expected, as well, avoiding the study or examination, obtaining temporary relief.

A very common phenomenon is related to test anxiety is procrastination. Many students, postpone the exam or "leave for the next date" by the anxiety that generates them having to go through a test or to study. Procrastination is the tendency to postpone the study or examination caused by excessive anxiety, fear of failure, perfectionism ("If not all, I do not show"), anticipation and expectations catastrophic proportion. The person feels intense anxiety postponed by merely thinking about what to do, then resort to avoidance calming, obtaining temporary relief. But the delay has devastating consequences when the problem becomes chronic dropouts chances are career or academic failure, not because the person is not capable, but because this bad habit to believe that one is good for studying.

People who suffer from test anxiety may see their performance deteriorated, too, by the problems of storing and organizing information as problems in retrieving stored information.

There are students who use good study skills and that despite this, at the time of recall or retrieve that information suffer the "phenomenon of mind blank", caused by anxiety. The person focuses attention on internal aspects (such as negative thoughts) or physical sensations rather than the resolution of the task or the exam, reducing their test performance. On the other hand, the anxious student may have difficulty studying, storing information superficially, presenting problems to select the most important aspects of information, because ineffective study strategies. This causes perceived lack of preparation or insecurity that increases your anxiety when held.

In our clinical experience in treating people with anxiety problems, we note that 70% of people with an anxiety disorder, also suffer from moderate to severe anxiety before exams. In fact the situation in anxiogenic exam is for those suffering from an anxiety disorder and those who do not suffer. For a person with social phobia, a fear of being negatively evaluated by others or you notice your nervousness, can be difficult for the fact an exam, especially if oral and more than one evaluator. Indeed, 50% of patients with social phobia have chronic postponements of examinations. And many of them have abandoned and retaken several times the race. Other people with anxiety disorders such as OCD sufferers have great difficulty when filing multiple choice type tests, as well as studying, by increasing interference rituals, doubts and obsessions, which prevents them from the appropriate concentration.

There are people who tend to be perfectionists and worry excessively, as people suffering from Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and others who fear breaking when an exam, and those who suffer from panic disorder. In our clinical experience, we observed that 44% of patients who consult us have a tendency to avoid the examination situation, so we have developed treatment strategies using specific techniques for each type of student, training in the management of test anxiety with successful results.

The coping strategy is customized and testing arises according to the type of difficulty with the students.

The treatment of this problem consists in training the management of anxiety, which are used for relaxation techniques, techniques to achieve adequate control of worry and thought restructuring techniques are also used techniques for managing time and organization of the study material.

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