Anxiety and panic attacks can effect people differently. For some they are terrified of flying and will experience much fear during a flight. In many cases these people simply will avoid flying. However, others experince anxiety in a much less dangerous situations. Namely, they have anxiety while taking an exam.
If this has happened to you, at first you may not have known you had a panic attack. You may have felt that you were very nervous for some reason. You could say to yourself that you were much more uptight than usual. While it may have been a shock that you were so nervous it was nothing more than that in your mind.
If you have experienced this you could have a suppeceptibiltiy to panic attacks or even an anxiety disorder. If you wound up doing very poorly on the exam due to anxiety even though you knew the materiel and are generally a good student, then panic attacks are interfering with your life and you should do something about it. No one should allow test anxiety to prevent them from doing well academically.
There are some techniques you can use to help overcome panic attacks and test anxiety. The first thing to remember is if you keep your mind completly occupied the anxiety will dissappear. Sometimes when people have anxiety it is normal to busy themselves with doing housework or interacting in safe enviornemnts like talking with friends. So, keeping you mind busy can be very important.
Try to avoid thinking exclusively on the things that are causing your panic attacks. If you are worried about how a bad grade will effect your academic record put your mind somewhere else. Think about the actual exam materiel. What did you study? Try to focus on the actual topics. Clear your head of the fear. This may sound simple, but it really does work.
Of course, you need to know precisely what is causing your panic attacks. There are many things that can trigger anxiety. Did you have a bad experience on an exam before? Do you have intense fear of having a panic attack? Are you hiding something from yourself or avoiding anything?
If it helps try keeping a journal of your experiences. When you have a panic attack, describe all the specific details as soon as you can. So, right after the exam is over try to make a journal entry. Remember everything that was going through your mind when you had the panic and write it down. This can help you to identify the cause of your anxiety. Pinpointing the cause isn’t always obvious. However, once you know what it is you will be well on your way to overcoming test anxiety. In many cases you just need to take small steps in coming to terms with your fear. Once you remove the fear by facing it in a safe way and getting through unscathed, then you will have overcome your anxiety.