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Coping with Exam Panic Attacks?
UniGirlBot asks: "I am a distinction / high distinction student who normally doesn't have any major levels of stress during exams. Today I managed to have a major panic attack during an exam on databases and ended up leaving the room in tears about halfway through a 3-hour paper. This panic attack was an absolute first for me and I now have to begin the special consideration procedure, which I am grateful exists. For the record, I did study enough and the course was something I enjoyed doing. Does anyone out there have any advice on what I could do stop this from happening again, please?" If you've been in this position, how did you recover?
A similar thing has happened to me, albeit not as seriously. Just use cold, hard logic. Do not let emotions get the best of you. Reason it out, you know this, you've been studying this for months, you have done countless other problems like it.
Instead of looking at the whole assignment as a problem, break it up into more manageable ones. Chances are you know something, or else you probably would not have enjoyed the class. Try to identify which part is giving you trouble and reason it out.
The title of this article is ``Copying with Exam *Panic* Attacks?''. If you are panicking because you are afraid that you will fail, reason it out: if you walk out, you are sure to fail. You miss 100% of the shots you don't take, and all that.
Seriously, just relax. Think of it logically, and you will be fine.
You can read about other people experiences at http://www.panicsurvivor.com/
The flushing of all the chemicals in your system will help loads. The extra sleep will give you energy through the dull test, and the OJ will give you a morning brain-kick. All natural even.
Good luck and have fun!
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As someone who has been there, I would suggest talking to your physician first. He/She can then help you figure out a plan of attack. My Panic Attacks stemmed from basically the same problem as you. Mine became so bad I got caught up in a feedback loop. I would have an attack, then get so worked up about having another, it would lead into one. It became so bad I became EXTREMELY agoraphobic. Not something I would reccomend to anyone. I finally went and got help from my Dr and a mental health professional. I am now on medication and have been attack free for over a year. The medication I would suggest is Paxil or the generic equivalent, but your doctor would be the best one to check with. Hope this helps and good luck!
I'm at a very different moment in life than you are, but several years ago I had a severe panic attack "out of the blue" while managing a large project. Once I'd understood what was going on, I responded like a good little geek and checked out the research on panic attacks.
While you should definitely seek the help of a professional, as you can dangerously misdiagnose yourself, the most likely cause is a high level of stress that you haven't been managing. Anxiety disorders in general become progressively harder to treat the longer you live with them, so don't try to just tough this out.
If you need it, a psychiatrist may be able to prescribe medication which can provide short term relief. Far more effective over the long term will be to engage in some cognitive therapy and learn to recognize the early symptoms that you are not managing stress and respond to them before your stress results in anxiety.
I would recommend the site www.anxieties.com as a good place to start. It's run by a respected clinician in the field, and while the site advertises plenty of materials you could pay for, it has a fair amount of information and advice available for free.
The good news is that if you take this seriously, respond quickly, and learn to comprehensively manage your stress, then your odds of avoiding a chronic anxiety disorder are quite good.
The above sounds like an awful thing to bring up, but don't confuse panic attacks with psychosis. I had panic attacks in HS and - years later - so did my daughter. Both of us worried ourselves sick wondering if the next stop was voices, social shunning and the lockup ward. I was an A student and just backed off a little. My daughter got a lot of relief just knowing that panic attacks are familial, can be controlled with medication and relaxation and that panic attacks aren't a sign you are a basket case. Turns out that my daughter also discovered that SLEEP - aka getting to bed before 11 PM and just stopping doing the homework - made the greatest impact on her anxiety and her ability to deal with stress. Another writer complemented you on bringing this up in a Slashdot venue... same here. But do yourself a favor and get to bed early, no more caffeine, get some exercise and have some good times. You'll eventually learn to live with the panic attacks (or, mostly, the worry about having the panic attacks). If they continue or get worse, call a Clinical Psychologist or Psychiatrist as soon as you can. So many of these things, if treated early - even the emotional disorders - resolve and get quickly better. The professionals will help you through the worst of the crisis and are really worth it. I'm a nurse and someone who's lived through this and speak from personal experience. Good luck.
Hi.
Sorry to hear about this; while I've never had an attack while taking an exam, but I have had my share of panic attacks.
Short term strategies (for when they hit):
1) If you have some benzos (xanax, valium, and the like), take one. Xanax takes about 20 minutes to hit, and it is possible to take a dose that cuts the attack without making you a drooling idiot. Really, having these around (esp. legally) will make a difference in your anxiety levels.
2) Close your eyes and breathe deeply---FOCUSING on breathing. You want to get more oxygen to your brain; apparently the shallow breathing of anxiety increases anxiety.
3) If you can get to a water fountain, a cold drink might help. I find that cold, sugary drinks are soothing---just no caffeine.
4) If you can get to a quiet, relatively isolated place, that might help too.
5) Keep reminding yourself that this really sucks, but it is just a panic attack and you're not going crazy and you're not going to have a heart attack.
Long term:
1) Get enough sleep, eat properly, exercize, and cut back on caffeine. (Sorry, this is what works. I was hoping for smoking, boozing, downing Krispe Kreme donuts and freebasing chocolate covered espresso, but no such luck.) As an aside: if you're smoking pot (especially if you're a habitual user), you may find it necessary to stop.
2) If the attacks continue, you'll want to get with a therapist who can help you figure out what your triggers are and how to work through them.
3) If you have panic with depression, I recommend meds. They have their downsides, to be sure, but they have made a huge difference. (Be forewarned that the first med you've been prescribed will work quite right.)
Of course, I'm not an MD---just a Ph.D. (in philosophy) who has some personal experience with this. YMMV, and be sure to get professional help if this becomes more than a one-off.
"Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under." - H.L. Mencken
Seriously. I learned it in 7th grade health. I'm a sophomore comp sci major at a major research university. I don't know if it's "real" meditation, but it works. You don't need to spend an hour doing it. You don't even need to spend 15 minutes. Only about 5.
Here's a sort of crash course based on what I've found works best for me as a short break in those gruelling 3 (or more) hour exams:
Sit up. Close your eyes. Take deep slow breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth. Let your body feel all the feelings you ignored (one at a time), moving from the bottom up. Feel the shoes on your feet all the way up to the hair on your head that your body ignored. Don't smell things if you know they're not cool. Taste if you can. Listen to the tiny sounds in the room. Make sure you're still taking deep slow breaths. Think yourself through it. Think about how irrational it is to panic. Think about how even if you don't get a perfect score, in the long run, it won't matter that much. Now come out of it just as slowly as you went into it: put out your irrational thoughts. Let go of the feelings you were just paying attention to. Breathe normally. Open your eyes. Go at your test again.
It may sound like a crock, and it did to me at first, but it may work.
--<Mike>--
Very wise words. I'm in the same position now as you and don't really know what to do about it. Just curious, what were the medications he suggested?
I'm at the point where they're totally routine, I mean, just before every day of work I have a lot of trouble falling asleep, and routinely wake up hours before I mean to. And when I get up in the middle of the night, there's no way I can get back to sleep because I'm thinking "Oh shit, if I don't get back to sleep, I'll feel like crap and my day will be hell!" It's very predictable.
They've started declining because I'm trying to make myself not care more and more and I think as a result, doing slightly worse at my job, but at least still better than most because I also get panic attacks about whether I'm doing a good job or not, since I want to keep mine. Still, it's not going away and I still feel a lot of pressure that I figure must all be coming from inside my mind because everyone else seems to be able to deal with it. Anyway, hopefully mine will go away permanently because it's really annoying not leading a normal life.
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A course in Art of Living, there's probably one near you (link in my .sig). It is tools to give you more energy, courage and dispassion, to survive the next exam.
A secret lies in the breath. We're not really aware of our breath during the day, usually not. So, with breathing exercises we can unleash alot of what is holding us back, and release stress, toxins and fear from the body.
An advice on here was to not care. But I think this is not entirely accurate, because I think you naturally care. A more precise word is the ancient word of dispassion. Not being attached to the result, but just doing what you can and see what happens. It is a good attitude. Dispassion is actually caring, but not getting tangled up with lots of expectations and attachments. This makes you free from having to think about working, always feeling guilty you haven't worked enough, etc. Such thinking can tire and psyche you out alot more than the actual work itself!
You can also start attaching positive thoughts to it. Often we harp in our minds again and again about how we suck at certain stuff, that we're not "able" to handle it like the others, comparing and alienating ourselves, etc, etc. Instead, you can find the positive stuff about the subject and yourself. Ie, you have handled many exams fine before, no matter what you will still survive, people shouldn't love you for your results or for any reason, you're good at this stuff because you DO care, etc, etc..
Whenever you feel anxious again, take your focus to your breath. You have more than enough time during an exam to do this too. When the thoughts wander off the breath, just take it back. With practice this is simple and can make you go through any feelings without panic, so that they get released.
A full Art of Living course will give many tools to overcome obstacles and finally surpass even your wildest expectations.
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