In short: When your mind goes blank in an exam, it is not for lack of knowledge. Under tension the body switches into danger mode, and then you cannot reach what you have learned. Afterwards it all comes back to you – and that is precisely the proof that it was there.
Please note: the video is spoken in German.
Exam anxiety affects a great many people. Students and pupils in particular, often primary school children already. The pressure is immense, and the body responds to it.
I hear it again and again from my clients: they study, they know the material, and in the evening they can present it to friends or family without trouble. And still they keep running the same scenario through their minds – that it will go wrong, just like last time.
When the mind becomes a vacuum
Then they sit in the exam and nothing comes to them at all. The mind is suddenly like a vacuum. Nothing left, everything gone. And they cannot imagine why.
Some even avoid studying, because of that bad experience. They get up, tidy the desk, keep fetching something to drink, get up again.
The subconscious keeps trying to avoid the studying. There is a fear of failing again, just like last time. Better not to begin at all, to protect yourself without noticing and to build a barrier against the whole thing.
What the body makes of it
The body reacts accordingly. On the morning of the exam, for some already days beforehand: a racing heart, damp hands, dizziness, nausea, headaches. Some are even sick in the morning.
That is how strongly the body can respond to stressful thoughts and inner images. It is like a film you keep running in front of yourself: you see yourself sitting there or standing before the examiners, failing, embarrassing yourself, feeling watched – and simply wanting out of the situation.
There is a way out of that film
You can come out of this loop of thoughts again. In conversation we first find out how it all fits together in your case: why you have these thoughts, and why these symptoms appear.
In hypnosis you come into contact with your subconscious. In that relaxed state you experience a film once more – but this time you are directing it. You are no longer at its mercy; it is in your own hands.
For that we go to your inner resources. To situations in which you were successful, and to the feeling that belongs with them. You experience yourself passing the exam with ease.
Your mind is then no longer a vacuum; your knowledge is unlocked. Like a library standing open, where all the information comes to you. It is inside you anyway – you simply have the access again.
In hypnosis this can essentially be experienced in advance, so that it becomes easier to carry out in reality.
Two questions I am often asked about this
Why does everything come back to me after the exam?
Because the knowledge was never gone. Under tension the body switches into danger mode, and in that state access to what you have learned is severely restricted. As soon as the tension eases, it is all available again. The problem is not your memory, but your access to it at the decisive moment.
I keep putting off studying. Am I simply lazy?
This rarely has anything to do with laziness. If you have once experienced an exam as a defeat, that memory speaks up the moment you sit down to study. Getting up, tidying the desk, fetching something to drink – these are attempts at protection. Avoidance points to the fear behind it, not to a lack of discipline.
Where to go from here
How a session for exam anxiety with hypnosis in Aachen works, how many appointments are usual and what it costs is described in full on that page. If your concern is mainly oral exams, presentations or job interviews, have a look at speaking in public without fear.
If you would like to know more, simply get in touch. I look forward to hearing from you.
With love,
Ellen
Hypnosis works alongside and in support of medical treatment; it does not replace it. If an anxiety disorder requiring treatment lies behind your exam anxiety, I will tell you honestly when medical support is the better path.
