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What Affect Does Anxiety Have on Study Habits?

Anxiety can have a profound impact on study habits and test taking. Understanding how different symptoms or diagnoses affect studying will help you explore what treatment may be helpful.

  1. Physical Symptoms of Anxiety

    • Many symptoms of anxiety are physical. They can include headaches, muscle tension, nausea, and feeling tired. Other symptoms can also occur, such as frequent urination and trembling.

    Cognitive Symptoms of Anxiety

    • In addition to physical symptoms, anxiety involves constant worrying, difficulty concentrating, and being startled easily. These cognitive symptoms are more difficult to observe, but can affect studying just as much as, if not more than, physical symptoms.

    Anxiety's Pattern

    • Most people who have anxiety follow a thought-feeling-action pattern. The thought can be something like "I am going to fail this test." This will trigger the feelings of anxiety, and any number of the symptoms listed above.

    How Symptoms Affect Studying

    • Studying requires focus, concentration, and a degree of confidence in your ability to retain the information. A person who suffers from anxiety may lack all of these. In addition, they may be experiencing physical symptoms that exacerbate their lack of concentration (like a headache).

    Test Anxiety

    • A specific type of anxiety affecting students is test anxiety. It only affects students when they are about to take a test or anticipating its arrival. This alone can severely impact the ability to study, as the student may already be anticipating failure.

    How to Reduce Anxiety while Studying

    • The University of Buffalo provides helpful hints for reducing anxiety while studying and taking tests. Create or find a moderately comfortable, quiet study space. Minimize distractions, and do your best to avoid thinking about non-study-related problems.

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