Testophobia (phobia Of Tests And Examinations): Symptoms, Causes And Treatment
Testophobia is the intense and persistent fear of exams. It is a specific situational phobia related to the negative experience of being evaluated. Although testophobia usually begins in early adulthood, it can also occur during childhood, since it is the fear of a common practice in our current societies.
Next We will see in more detail what testophobia is what are some of its causes and how it can be treated.
The term testophobia takes up, on the one hand, the word “test”, which in English means “test” or “examination”, and on the other, the word “phobia”, which comes from the Greek “phobos” (“fear”). Thus, “testophobia” means fear of exams and evaluation tests
Testophobia is not recognized as a particular clinical condition by specialists in psychology and psychiatry. However, the term is often found in colloquial literature to describe the experience of persistent fear of evaluations.
In this sense, testophobia could be considered a specific phobia Specific phobias, on the other hand, are characterized by an intense and persistent fear, excessive or irrational, that is triggered by the presence or anticipation of specific objects or situations (Bados, 2005). These objects or situations can range from animals to the need to take an exam, as is the case in this case.
Likewise, specific phobias can be situational, when fear is induced by specific situations. In that case it would be situations related to the application of tests. On the other hand, testophobia is related to social phobia, as it involves the persistent fear of situations that involve exposing oneself to the evaluation of others.
That is to say that, although the application of tests and exams is in itself a potentially stressful situation ; Testophobia occurs when said situation is experienced with a fear that exceeds rational justification and that generates a series of behaviors and physiological reactions linked to anxiety. This irrationality of fear is even recognized by the person who experiences it.
Symptoms
As we have said, testophobia can be characterized by the presence of physiological reactions associated with anxiety states, triggered by situations that involve the administration of an exam (which can be in the school context, but also in the sports or recreational context, or anything related to high performance, success-failure logic and competition). The latter is a situation that is perceived as harmful, which causes the activation of the sympathetic nervous system and generates a series of involuntary motor reactions.
These reactions are, for example, tachycardia, palpitations, increased blood pressure, shortness of breath, dizziness, sweating, decreased gastrointestinal activity, etc. Additionally, while an anxiety response is immediately triggered, specific phobias often lead to panic attacks.
As with other phobias, testophobia can generate other secondary behaviors, which, like the experience of anxiety, are not easily observable, but have a negative impact on the daily activities of those who experience them.
These are, for example, fears related to everything around presenting any evidence or it can also include behaviors such as avoidance of the same circumstance, since, otherwise, they are experienced as intense discomfort.
Likewise, testophobia can be one of the manifestations of anxiety disorders or other types of more complex and profound experiences,
The fear that characterizes phobias is related to the possibility of suffering harm; regardless of whether this damage has occurred previously, and without necessarily considering the actual probability of its occurrence. On the other hand, said fear may be caused by a previous experience where harm has actually occurred.
In this sense, testophobia can be generated either by the direct negative consequences of having failed previous exams or tests ; or, it may be caused by the meanings associated with the experience of being evaluated and failing, even if previous results have been mostly positive.
The latter may also be related to the expectations and demands generated by the immediate environment and that do not necessarily correspond to the performance, abilities or interests of the person.
On the other hand, specific situational phobias usually develop in early adulthood, although in some cases they occur during childhood. It also usually happens that the fear of the situation is presented in a rational but persistent manner during childhood, but a phobia is not triggered until adulthood
Bados (2005) tells us that in some studies it has been reported that around 9 years can pass between the beginning of the fear and the beginning of the phobia. In addition, specific phobias are more common in women (three women for every man), although this may vary depending on the specific situation in question.
Treatment
As with other phobias, there are different strategies that can help reduce the experience of discomfort related to the stressful situation These strategies range from the analysis and modification of the meanings attributed to the stimulus that generates stress (in this case, the experience of being evaluated through an exam), to the relearning of emotional coping styles for the same situation.
In the specific case of testophobia, it is important to ensure that the situations found around the administration of a test (that is, what happens before and after the moment of presenting it), generate experiences of tranquility and not just stress.
In other words, it is important to compensate for the tensions caused by the excessive need to study with other activities or experiences that provide relaxation. Likewise, it is important assertively manage test results especially when it comes to unexpected or unsatisfactory results.
