How to Manage Academic Anxiety

Learning is a process that never ends. It begins when the person is born and ends only when they are no more. It is believed that a person is no longer of any use if he/she stops learning.

When we talk about learning, most of us can remember the days of school and college as an academic. It is a hectic life of attending classes, making notes, doing your homework, and taking those dreaded exams. It also has fun and frolic attached with the serious aspects of being an academic.

Anxiety is a state of mind in response to some stimulus in the environment which brings in the feelings of apprehension or fear. When the person is exposed to the cause of anxiety the next time, the conditioning effect causes a repeat response and the person will try to avoid the cause.

All the responsibilities of being an academic brings with it a state of mind referred to as "academic anxiety". This can be associated with almost all the tasks associated with academics i.e. starting from attendance to classes to the biggest cause of academic anxiety- exams! It doesn't stop there, though. Students can be anxious about everything from their reading speed to their performance in gym class.

Academic anxiety arises out of the apprehension of rebuke from teachers, parents and peers regarding the failures of performing the responsibilities of an academic properly. Developing a state of academic anxiety causes a decrease in attention span, concentration and memory which can result in having a negative effect on the performance of the individual.

It is now been learnt that some level of anxiety is required for the person to take up all the responsibilities seriously but both high levels of academic anxiety or too low a level has deleterious effects on academic performance, which in turn may lead to more academic anxiety.

When a person is suffering from academic anxiety, he/she may lose concentration on the task at hand and may end up undertaking some unproductive behavior that further reduces the efficiency of the person.

The job of helping an individual overcome academic anxiety isn't restricted to that person alone but has to be a joint venture between his/her mentors, parents, siblings, friends and the person, with him/her taking a pivotal role. One easy way to help combat the minor symptoms of students is to teach them some kinds of advanced study skills, like speed reading. This is actually very easy to learn, and you can find out how to conduct speed reading tests all over the internet. Explaining advanced concepts like chunking reading is actually really simple.

The individual has to strive hard to organize his/her life as a student so that there is no cause for academic anxiety. They should promptly attend classes, make the necessary notes, take time to do the homework, study regularly and take mock exams to overcome the fear of answering examinations.

The others should take up the role of motivating the person to take his role seriously and ask him/her to put in all the necessary efforts to do better and advice them not to be worried about the results. This kind of positive pushing will help the individual not only try hard but will also make them put in their best and in doing so help combat academic anxiety.