What Happens To You When You Are Anxious?

What is Actually Happening When You are Anxious During a Test? Why Do I Panic and Cannot Control My Emotions?

When you start to feel anxious or panic setting in, your Amygdala takes over. Your Amygdala is part of your brain. When activated, it creates a sense of life or death. It makes you feel like you need to get out of the current situation by all means possible and stops the neural pathways to other parts of the brain. One part in particular, is the prefrontal cortex. This part of your brain helps with problem solving, logic, and reasoning. This is why, you know a test is not a life or death situation, but it is hard to control the sense of doom. The pathways are blocked to this part of the brain.

About the Amygdala

So What Can I do Prevent or Stop This?

Go for a water break walk. The change of location and blood flow will relax your brain.
Take your hand and hold it over the floor. Shift your focus back and forth from your hand to the floor till you start to relax.
Breathing is important in helping alleviate the feeling of anxiety. You can use breathing techniques to relax in a stressful setting. Using the provided link would be useful for the student to use during a time like this or any stressful time without bringing much attention to themselves. https://youtu.be/O29e4rRMrV 4

Looking at a picture of a waterfall or visualizing yourself on a beach relaxing are good examples of this. Sample photo of the beach in Wildwood Crest, New Jersey.

Why Should I do This?

These strategies are used to reset the brain in a way. It is a way to relax yourself and start using your full brain activity and not just your amygdala.

Some Useful Tips

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