How to cope with anxiety during the Unified State Exam. Psychologist's advice

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Stressful situations haunt a person throughout his entire adult life. This is due to many factors. Stress arises against the background of misunderstandings in the family, with constant fuss, as a result of overstrain at work. There are even cases when such a state becomes permanent and a person gets so used to it that it seems to him that this is how it should be. But this is only for some time. If you do not deal with stress, it leads to exhaustion of the nervous system and the development of somatic diseases. However, not everyone knows how to relieve stress. Let's try to figure it out in detail.

Ways to relax your mind

Positive talk

When we experience stress, the first thing we do is start thinking all sorts of stupid things about ourselves, filling ourselves with negativity. But this certainly won’t help you calm down during the exam! Instead, it's better to make a conscious effort to present your abilities and level of preparation in a positive light.

• Banish thoughts like this: “There are so many questions, and I’m unprepared, I won’t be able to do everything!”;
• When you feel that such a thought is coming, replace it with a positive one, for example: “I know there are a lot of questions here, but if I don’t rush around and solve them one by one, then I can solve everything”;
• Even the simple phrase “I can do this!” may bring relief.

Don't focus on what others are doing

It is very tempting to start turning your head in an attempt to understand how your colleagues on the battlefield with the Unified State Examination react to the tasks offered to them. “Oh, but she doesn’t seem to be afraid at all, she decides everything!”, “Lord, half of the essay is already visible!” Do not do it this way.

• Do your best to just focus on what you are doing.

If you feel the need to look away from the test even for a moment, simply close your eyes and take deep breaths several times. It’s better to look out the window than at the next row, believe me!

A little humor

For some people, humor is a real salvation. It can seriously relieve stress and aid concentration. Think to yourself: “Ha, comrades, I’m about to destroy this option like Napoleon at Waterloo.” And then imagine how thousands of teachers will check your essays, dreaming of a warm robe, coffee and a new episode of “The Bachelor.”

• If you give yourself a little pleasure, it will help you not to be nervous, and therefore focus on the test.

Find your happy place

No, not like by the window, where it’s easier to cheat. We are against cheating on the Unified State Exam. We are talking about “mind palaces”, just like Sherlock. Many people find visualization during stress to be very helpful. Close your eyes for a minute and imagine a place you really enjoy being. Think of it as a motivator - when the Unified State Exam is over, you can go back or go there. So the author of this article, during every difficult situation, says to himself: “In 5 hours you will be in the park near your house, you can just sit and not think about anything.”

• Some also find it helpful to visualize the test and exam itself. If you feel overwhelmed by the number of questions, you can imagine that the tasks are a dense jungle, ready to be fought through step by step.

Relaxation methods

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Physical methods can be used. For example, on our hand there is a pad at the base of the thumb. In palmistry it is called the “mount of Venus.” Approximately in the center of this pillow there are active points that help relieve stress. If you press on this active point with four fingers, press a little until a pulsation appears, this will help you relax a little.

You can also relax before an exam by drinking a glass of water. Water increases energy and helps suppress stress.

You can remember a situation when you succeeded in everything, when you felt happy that you had succeeded in something. This could be some kind of situation from childhood. For example, you built a tower of sand, it seemed wonderful to you, you felt delighted by it. That is, you remember any situation and feeling that you had when there was success. Try to visualize this feeling or imagine what it is like. Maybe it looks like some kind of bird or a beautiful flower, or something else. And in a situation of stress, evoke this image in yourself. Thus, we evoke a psychological anchor that transports us to that state of success and joy from the result obtained. And this state can be an assistant in stress management.

Ways to relax your body

Relax at the table

This does not mean that you need to drain from the chair onto the floor (although you really want to do this). There's just a tendency to sit hunched over when you're stressed. Your hands may be clenched, as are your arms, and your legs may move up and down. However, physical stress will not help you feel better. Try this instead:

• Keep both feet on the floor;
• Relax your arms, place your elbows and hands on the table;
• Do not sit on the edge of the chair, it is better to move it towards the table, and sit closer to the back.

Take a deep breath

When we are tense, we begin to breathe quickly and shallowly, like a trapped wolf. Wolves, as you know, rarely receive higher education. Start breathing slowly to reduce stress and improve concentration. During the exam, try to pay attention to your breathing:

• Close your eyes;
• Take a slow, deep breath through your nose;
• Exhale slowly through your mouth and repeat.

Mindfulness exercises

If you have trouble concentrating on a particular part of the test, your mind starts to wander, and you start to panic, then some mindfulness exercises can help you focus. Take a moment to:

• Pay attention to the pencil in your hand. Is it smooth? Rough? Balancing on your finger?
• Think about the posture: are the chair and back touching? What do arms and legs do?
• Think about the sounds around you: what is heard in the room, what is heard outside the window?

? How to calm your nerves before an exam

An exam is rightfully one of the most stressful events in a person’s life. Worried about its withdrawal, many experience severe nervous tension, which is detrimental to a person’s health and psyche. In order to get a positive result, everyone taking the test needs to feel calm and confident both during the exam and before it. A few mental exercises can help you feel more confident.

Instructions

1. The right attitude for the exam. Imagine in advance the situation that occurs during the exam, mentally scroll through all the solutions. Be sure to think through the positive outcome of the test. Remember all the previous successful cases of passing the exam, think about what skills from the past you can use now. In addition, by thinking about past sensations, you have a chance to repeat them, and in this way you are programming yourself for good luck. Ask your loved ones to tell you only excellent words and parting words. Convincing your family and friends about the positive outcome of the exam will help you cope with anxiety and believe in your abilities. Knowing that the people around you love you not for the mark you got on an exam, but simply for the fact that you exist, you will be able to calm down and feel more confident. 2. Exercise and activities can also help you manage stress. Massage your hands or earlobes, try to relax tense muscles one by one. Make sure you get enough sleep the day before the exam; a good rest will be the key to mental clarity during the exam. Write cheat sheets, even if you never use them. Knowing that they are there will give you confidence and peace of mind, and you will also use your rote memory while writing. 3. When you are at ease in front of an audience or office, try not to succumb to general panic. Do breathing exercises to calm down and put your thoughts and nerves in order. Inhale deeply, imagine that the air is passing through you from head to feet, and then exhale sharply. Imagine that together with the air you are exhaling all tasks. Place your hand on your stomach, inhale slowly and exhale in the same way. Regular breathing will help you calm down. Repeat the exercise several times. 4. The most important thing is to prepare for the exam. Learn the necessary material not the other night, but by distributing it little by little for each period of preparation. Repeat what you have learned. Arrange a mini-survey with your friends or relatives in order to understand whether there is material left that you did not pay attention to. The person who feels most confident is the one who has thoroughly studied the exam topic. Note! Be careful not to use various sedative pills and drops; tea, they not only relieve anxiety, but also slow down mental work, which is ideally not necessary for you during the exam. Nootropic drugs that stimulate brain function are also better to put aside; they can cause hyperstimulation of the brain, which can trigger sleep disorders, migraines, or even nervous attacks. Remember that all medications should only be prescribed by a doctor.

Develop a strategy for working with tasks

Read all assignments carefully

When you're stressed, it's easy to forget even basics like reading instructions. However, before you dive into the exam, take a few minutes and read what you are being asked to do. Make sure you understand the directions.

• Take the time to study all sections of the exam, just read them. This way you will embrace everything completely and will not be afraid of the “unknown” future.

Determine which tasks or sections need to be completed first

Some people like to start with easy material as a warm-up of sorts, building their sense of confidence. Others prefer to start with more difficult questions or sections to get them out of the way. Having a plan to work through the exam, regardless of your preferences, will make the task-solving process manageable.

Take your time, but try not to get stuck

Even if writing time is limited, completing all assignments quickly will not earn you extra points.
Try to work smoothly, take your time, read the tasks carefully. If you have problems with some task, do not panic, read carefully, focus on solving it without panic and self-torture (see sections 1 and 2 of this article), but do not spend all your time on it. Move forward, if there is time at the end, you can return. Everything will work out! The exam is just a test and you will definitely pass!

For assistance in writing this article, we thank our colleagues from the National Mentoring Resource Center MENTORI

Making cheat sheets is useful

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Psychological attitude: how to help your child prepare for exams

It’s useful to make cheat sheets, because cheat sheets are a systematization of knowledge, an attempt to structure all knowledge. In this case, different memory modalities are involved: visual and motor memory. When a person writes cheat sheets, he thus organizes all his knowledge into shelves. Another question is whether to use these tips or not. This is the responsibility of the one who will make these cheat sheets. Having cheat sheets with you, a person can feel more confident. But, again, the student must understand his responsibility and be aware of the consequences that may occur if he pulls out a cheat sheet and is caught with it. I repeat once again: as a means of preparing for exams, cheat sheets are one of the methods of systematizing knowledge, but it is better to leave them at home or hide them so deeply that it will be inconvenient to use them, then you will have to use the memory that was activated in the process of creating these cheat sheets.

Take the situation to the point of absurdity

If you are very afraid and don’t know how to calm down before the exam, psychologists recommend using the “reduction to absurdity” technique. Scare yourself as much as possible. Imagine the most unimaginable terrible details and nightmarish consequences. If you are preparing together or in a group, then scare each other. It has long been known that increased fear causes a paradoxical reaction: instead of becoming depressed, a person begins to understand the exaggeration of his own experiences. Even the most severe consequences do not look as terrible as he previously thought.

If you pass the Unified State Exam, I’ll buy you a car

As for commodity-money relations, this is not the best option for stimulating a child to study and pass the Unified State Exam well, because in this way he does not understand all the responsibility. If you have already used this method and the child got involved in it, began to study better, it really influenced him, then there is no need to go back. If the child is not involved, we need to look at why he doesn’t want to learn, why he doesn’t have motivation, what messages the parents are giving. If they tell him that he will be a janitor, that he will never achieve anything, it is clear that with such an attitude towards the future he does not want to try. Therefore, here you need to take a very individual approach.

The child needs to be motivated. In general, a good parent does not intimidate a child, because this brings paradoxical results. Parents expect that the child will be afraid and begin to study better, but fear paralyzes and does not allow action. In fact, he believes in parenting messages. Therefore, the best motivation is your own example, faith in the child and supporting him throughout all educational activities from the very beginning: “I believe that you will succeed.” With this parental approach, in the eleventh grade there will no longer be any fear of exams. Rather, he will have a fear of not going where he wants.

Make a plan

People who know how to calm down before the traffic police exam are well aware of its importance. It is necessary to estimate the total volume of material and evenly distribute its study over several days. Specifics are very important. For example, the plan should not include the entry “I’ll work out a little.” Write down all the sections of the subject that you will study today.

"Mom, I didn't pass"

What should I do if my child fails the exam? I would ask my parents this question. Will you love him less if he fails the Unified State Exam? Probably not. The child must understand that even if he does not pass the exam, he will still remain a beloved son or daughter and he will have a chance to pass it again.

It is important for everyone to calm down and continue living. Nothing catastrophic happened. There will be another chance in this life. The world does not collapse because a person fails an exam. There are people who do not pass the exam and do not enter the university. There are people who stubbornly take exams to the same institutes 10 times, following their dreams. So it’s okay, next time he’ll pass. The attitude of the parents is important here. It is clear that this is not easy for a child, and parents must pull themselves together. Watch yourself, because the reaction they show to the child can harm him. Parents must understand their responsibility and share it with their child.

Oral exam

If you have to answer orally, this can be even more stressful for some students. In this case, you need to take your preparation especially responsibly, then you will be able to overcome the fear of taking the exam.

As with the written exam, think ahead about how you will behave during the preparation period. We advise you to follow the recommendations:

1. Think about how well you know the teacher. Do not forget that in his life there were many even more important exams than yours. Therefore, he understands well how you feel. Instead of worrying, focus on the material, this will relieve stress by keeping your thoughts busy, and you will be able to overcome fear faster.
2. It is important to establish contact with the teacher you will be speaking to for the exam. Say your thoughts out loud so the teacher knows how you think. This is much better than remaining silent, because in this case the inspector may think that you don’t know anything at all.
3. Don't look at the floor or ceiling when answering. Look directly into the eyes of the examiner, this will allow you to win over the teacher, and it will be much easier to establish contact with him.
4. There is no need to build overly complex and long sentences when answering the question. Try to avoid memorized phrases. It's so easy to get confused and even more anxious. Your task is to demonstrate to the teacher that you have a good command of the material and understand what you are talking about. This can be done if you use simple and understandable sentences.

By following these rules, you will easily cope with fear and anxiety before the oral exam.

Forget about drugs

Recently, there has been a significant increase in the number of people taking nootropic drugs to increase brain activity. If you do this, don't forget the downside. Long-term or improper use of nootropics causes hyperstimulation of the brain, which manifests itself in the form of headaches, irritability, insomnia and increased excitability. Sedatives have a similar effect. On the one hand, they calm the nervous system, but on the other, they greatly inhibit brain function, reducing the ability to concentrate and attentiveness in general.

A written exam

A good method for overcoming your fear of exams is to think in advance about how you will behave in the classroom, make a clear plan for yourself and strictly follow it. If there is a written exam ahead, we advise you to adhere to the following rules:

1. Start by carefully reading all the tasks on the ticket.
2. Start with the easiest one. This will allow you to have more time for more difficult tasks, and it will also help you calm down when you see that some of the work has already been completed.
3. If you need to answer a question in detail, think carefully about your answer first. Write down your abstracts so you don’t forget anything out of excitement. This will help bring together everything you know.
4. Don't try to submit your work early; use all the time allotted to you.
5. Even if everyone is ready, it’s better to double-check everything and try to remember if you forgot anything.

Following these simple rules will help you organize your thoughts during the exam. This is a surefire way to overcome fear.

Mentally relive the situation

At the end of the school year, many schoolchildren ask the question: “How to calm down before the Unified State Examination?” You can try the “experience the situation” method. A few days before the “X-hour”, imagine passing the exam in all its colors and with the corresponding experiences, phobias and “scary thoughts”: here you are entering the class, taking a ticket, preparing, going out to answer, etc. To begin with, imagine how your throat is dry or your hands are shaking, but there is not a single thought in your head. Now do the opposite. How would you like the exam to go? We think something like this: you take a ticket, prepare with concentration and confidently and calmly answer before the examination committee, without feeling any fear. Imagine all this as specifically as possible, in all the details. After doing this several times, you will be convinced of the effectiveness of this method.