Exam season can be stressful, especially if you have OCD and anxiety. To manage symptoms, avoid cramming, limit caffeine, focus on staying present, and seek exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy to learn how to handle obsessions and compulsions.
As a student, the spring semester can be a whirlwind of activity. Spring break, planning for college, and attending prom are just a few things that make this the busiest time of the school year. Aside from the fun activities, there’s also a lot of test-taking during this period. Taking exams—whether the ACT, SAT, or final exams for classes—can be stressful and anxiety-inducing for many students.
If you have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and anxiety, you may already know how stress can amplify your symptoms. Maybe you feel like you must reread notes until they feel “just right,” check your answers over and over, or seek reassurance that you’ve studied enough. Or, maybe your brain tells you scary “what if” scenarios, making it hard to concentrate.
The good news? You don’t have to let your OCD and anxiety control your exam experience. Keep reading to get tips on how to get through exams while managing OCD and anxiety.
1. Avoid cramming
Although many students cram, trying to absorb a bunch of information into your brain the night before or the morning of your exam can actually worsen your OCD. For example, if your symptoms revolve around perfectionism, you may feel the need to reread sections of the textbook or slides or rewrite your study notes until it feels “right.” Ultimately, these behaviors disrupt your studying process, are time-consuming, and can make you lose sleep.
Rather than cramming, Tracie Ibrahim, LMFT, CST, NOCD’s Chief Compliance Officer, suggests breaking down studying into smaller parts so you don’t overwhelm yourself or engage in repetitive behaviors. “If a test is going to be over three chapters, maybe you study a quarter or half of a chapter at a time and then take a little break,” she says.
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2. Limit caffeine intake
A lot of students drink coffee or a Red Bull for a quick energy boost before an exam. However, Ibrahim advises against doing so, as the amount of caffeine in these drinks could increase anxiety and OCD symptoms. Caffeine may increase stress levels, leaving you feeling the jitters. This reaction can trick your brain into thinking that you’re anxious, which may spike your OCD symptoms.
If you must have a bit of caffeine in your system, please drink it in moderate amounts. You could also try herbal teas, which contain much less caffeine than coffee or energy drinks.
3. Don’t accommodate your OCD
Some students benefit from test-taking accommodations like noise-cancelling headphones, being alone in a quiet room, or extra time to take an exam. While it may be tempting to request accommodations for yourself, know that doing so is a form of avoidance, which is one of the many compulsions or safety behaviors that keep your OCD in control.
“Don’t request accommodations to avoid the situations you find triggering, because this actually makes your symptoms worse,” says Ibrahim. As scary as it might be, a key part of overcoming OCD is facing your fears head-on—whether it be in school or other environments. That said, it’s best to do your exams in a classroom with your teacher and peers.
4. Don’t respond to intrusive thoughts
When unwanted and distressing thoughts are on replay in your mind, it can be hard not to respond to them. Instead of trying to get rid of intrusive thoughts with a compulsion, Ibrahim suggests learning how to sit with them. One way you can do that is with response prevention techniques.
For example, if a thought that pops up about failing your exam and you feel anxiety creeping in, you can say to yourself, “Maybe I will fail, maybe I won’t,” or “This is just an OCD thought, I don’t have to answer it.”
If you work with an OCD specialist, you can learn more of these techniques through exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy, which we’ll cover later in the article.
5. Focus on the present moment
OCD and anxiety can make you ruminate or overthink about what may or may not have happened in the past and what could happen in the future. When you add standardized tests and final exams to the mix, the stress can amplify your rumination.
To keep your mind in the present, Ibrahim recommends learning present-moment focus or mindfulness. Mindfulness is simply the practice of being fully present and aware. It focuses on the fact that just because these distressing and often relentless thoughts come into your mind, it doesn’t mean they reflect your true values and you don’t have to act on them.
A mindfulness practice that is especially helpful before, during, and after exams is the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique. This five-step exercise can bring you back to the present moment when you’re feeling anxious.
6. Consider specialized therapy
If you’re not already receiving treatment for your OCD and anxiety, it’s highly recommended that you give ERP therapy a go. ERP is a specialized form of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) that is specifically designed to treat OCD. In ERP, you’ll learn how to respond to obsessions—whether they’re intrusive thoughts, images, urges, feelings, or sensations—to reduce distress and focus more on the things that matter. Over time, ERP therapy will help you build resilience to tolerate discomfort from obsessions on your own.
If you’re ready to start your treatment journey, speak with your parent, guardian, therapist, or trusted adult about getting support. While ERP won’t get rid of your anxiety entirely, you can learn to handle it in a way that puts you in control during test time rather than OCD.
You are more than your OCD (or your test score)
OCD and anxiety might try to make exam time more stressful, but once you have the tools to handle it, you can put them in the back seat so you can focus on the things that are important to you. Remember that no test defines your worth, and no intrusive thought can stop you from doing your best. Just keep practicing what you’ve learned, and trust that you are much stronger than OCD—even during exam time.
Key takeaways
- Exam season can be especially challenging if you have OCD and anxiety, as stress can amplify obsessions and compulsive behaviors.
- You can manage OCD during exams by breaking up study sessions, limiting caffeine, practicing mindfulness, and resisting compulsions like reassurance-seeking or checking.
- Exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy can help you build long-term strategies to handle OCD and anxiety during exam season and beyond.
