The term test anxiety usually refers to an excessive feeling of nervousness or anxiousness that an individual experiences while preparing for a large exam or actually taking a large exam. Test anxiety can be a major problem as it can easily interfere with an individual's ability to perform well on an exam. However, a reasonable amount of anxiety about a test is not necessarily a bad thing.
The nervous, anxious feeling that an individual experiences while he or she is preparing for an exam or taking an exam is actually the body's natural way of handling excessive stress. The body, realizing that the individual is entering a stressful situation, releases adrenaline that helps the individual stay alert so he or she can be prepared for the stress that he or she is about to face. This state of heightened alertness due to a stressful situation will cause an individual to feel nervous and anxious because the individual's body has made the individual more alert to the causes of the stress. This can be useful, however, as an individual that is more alert due to a stressful situation is also usually more attentive to detail, which can help the individual perform well on an exam. This feeling of nervousness can also help an individual stay motivated to prepare for an exam because the individual wants to study in order to feel less nervous. In fact, this is part of the reason that the individual's body generates the feeling of nervousness in the first place, as the sense of anxiety that an individual feels is actually the body's response to a threat that it believes the individual will have difficulty overcoming. As a result, anxiety can actually be useful for an individual in certain situations. Unfortunately, it can sometimes be difficult for an individual to keep his or her anxiety under control, which can lead to excessive anxiety that makes it difficult for the individual to perform well on an exam.