Symptoms of Test Anxiety
How do you know you are suffering from test anxiety? Often, you will experience a combination of cognitive, physical, and emotional symptoms.
Cognitive symptoms
Cognitive symptoms refer to disruptions in thought processes like learning, memory, comprehension and reasoning skills. These symptoms can include
- Negative self-talk
- Racing thoughts
- Negative comparison of yourself with other students
- Difficulty concentrating
- Difficulty remembering material during the exam that you studied (going “blank”)
Physical symptoms
Physical symptoms refer to signs that your body is affected by anxiety-caused stress. Physical symptoms of test anxiety may include:
- Sweating
- Light-headedness
- Headache
- Nausea
- Diarrhea
- Rapid heart rate
- Muscle tension
- Shortness of breath
Emotional symptoms
Emotional symptoms refer to disturbances of your emotions and feelings. While it is normal to experience heightened emotions before and during a test, emotional symptoms of test anxiety are often abnormal and disproportionate, and may include:
- Fear
- Anger
- Frustration
- Helplessness
References
Albert Einstein College of Medicine Office of Academic Support and Counseling
©UAMS Student Success Center July/2015