Examinophobia

Have you ever dreaded the thought of examination fast approaching and your body system gets weak immediately? Most times when this occurs, we refer to it as “Examination fever or Examination anxiety”. It can also be called examinophobia – The fear of examination.

Due to examinophobia, some students have missed their examination, some will come up with the lie of having a fever just to avoid writing examination. Albert Einstein, framed having a fever during a mathematics examination which he later regretted.
It is an unpleasant emotional state with the feeling of nervousness, tension, and worry. Physiological effects include increased blood pressure, sweating, dryness of the mouth, nausea, dizziness, restlessness, and feeling of weakness.

The major causes of examinophobia are, lack of preparation, parental pressure, and environmental factor.

Lack of preparation

Some students don’t know their learning style, some are logical learners, while some are auditory learners but some of them imitate their friends thinking they are using the same style. It can take a student 3 hours to effectively understand what they are taught while it could be an hour for another. A lot of students will be preparing for an examination some hours before the exam, this is a lack of preparation which allow some students to develop examinophobia, knowing their preparedness.

Parental pressure

This happens to many students, the rate at which an undergraduate parents pressures their student is very high compared to graduate and postgraduate parents. They place high pressure on these children, to the extent of comparing them with other children which leads to high competition. Some parents have a lackadaisical attitude towards their children’s learning ability, they do not have time to create a time table for them, to revise with them but they are expecting the best performance.

Environmental factor

The environment is another factor that contributes greatly to examinophobia. Due to peer influence, some children have become drug addicts, some can’t do without sex, and some are cult members. All these have led to a lack of preparation that has turned to examinophobia.

How to overcome examinophobia

Parenting programs should be organized by schools and made compulsory for parents and should be done frequently.
Parents should cultivate the habit of rewarding their children for their little achievement, this will encourage them to do better.
Students should be given access to a counselor that they can discuss their academic issues.
Parents should try to look out for signs of stress in their children.
Parents should cultivate the habit of making a reading timetable for their children and try to revise with them.
Good communication level between parents and children.

For students:
Avoid spending too much time on social media.
Avoid eating junk.
Avoid hasty exam preparations.
Know your learning style.