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How did you all get through your HSC and Prelims without having a panic attack?

Aspeth

I have my Prelims coming up and because of something that happened in yr3, I am terrified of exams of any kind. I have been going through therapy for years now and have recently gone back to school in yr11 (I'm 18 but because i have ADHD and Autism, they let me reenroll) and genuinely thought I'd gotten mostly over my fear but yesterday, the Head of Education for our school called everyone in my grade to talk about what the exam week will look like and I got so panicky.

I always get nauseous during tests and the only two ways to get out of the exams was if you are sick (in which case you need to offer a doctors note as evidence) or if you get stuck in traffic (in which case you must provide photographic evidence) so i went up after he finished speaking to ask what would happen if I got sick during the exam and I got so scared at the mere mention of it (even though I was the one asking) that I ended up crying...

Does anyone have any coping mechanisms they used to get through theirs? I've got the 444 (and 484) technique, patting my chest/knee/arm/etc in a slow rhythm to calm my heartbeat but no other 'generic' or 'neurotypical' techniques help... Any suggestions?

Prelims are Preliminary exams to prepare us for HSC... I'm in Australia so these are the things we have here.

Parents

  • Your prelims are just an opportunity for you to experience a real exam environment and identify your current level. If you do well, great. If you don't do well, then you'll have some valuable information about where to focus your studies ... also great. So, it's great either way!

    You will probably learn a bit more about timing and pacing of exam papers that you knew before. Whether or not a particular brand of pen is comfortable to use for hours at a time or not. Little things like that.

    When you walk in to the exam hall and sit down to the exam paper, what's done is done. If you think you are not prepared, then so be it—smile and think, "Oh, well, here goes nothing." Just focus on the paper, do your best to answer the questions, and see how it turns out. Nobody expects you to do anything more than that.

    Nothing bad is going to happen. You'll be fine.

Reply

  • Your prelims are just an opportunity for you to experience a real exam environment and identify your current level. If you do well, great. If you don't do well, then you'll have some valuable information about where to focus your studies ... also great. So, it's great either way!

    You will probably learn a bit more about timing and pacing of exam papers that you knew before. Whether or not a particular brand of pen is comfortable to use for hours at a time or not. Little things like that.

    When you walk in to the exam hall and sit down to the exam paper, what's done is done. If you think you are not prepared, then so be it—smile and think, "Oh, well, here goes nothing." Just focus on the paper, do your best to answer the questions, and see how it turns out. Nobody expects you to do anything more than that.

    Nothing bad is going to happen. You'll be fine.

Children
  • in reply to Damojo

    I know that in my head, but during my first NAPLAN, I got really anxious and had to leave early. When mum came to pick me up, the Principal came out and actually got mum in trouble for me being unable to finish so that one experience has caused me to fear exams and tests because - and I know 100% that this is illogical and won't happen - if I don't do well or I end up having to leave early, then mum will get in trouble and I don't want that... It is a completely irrational fear but one that has stuck with me all these years...

    (the Principal's excuse was that since I have already read all the questions, I could just go home and search up the answers and memorise them to answer if I re-did the test... I was 8 with undiagnosed, unmedicated ADHD... I couldn't even remember what the subject was for the test let alone any of the questions!)

    But thanks for the vote of confidence, anyway Relaxed️