Our final presentation in our class, The Healthy Mind and Body. The PowerPoint analyzes what anxiety is, how it begins and contributes to academics, and what treatments are available.

1. Academic
Healthy Mind and Body, 450-01
Brittany Barney and Malik Gregory

2. Outline
 What is anxiety?
 Understanding anxiety
 How does it begin?
 Treatment/seeking help
 How anxiety contributes to academics Coping/overcoming academic

 The production of fear and anxiety
 How test anxiety develops
anxiety
 Effects of anxiety
 Relationship between anxiety &
performance
 Before, during, and after the test

3. What Is Anxiety?
 18% of Americans are diagnosed with
some form of anxiety
 40 million people
Americans
 Anxiety is a physical response that
communicates with the brain, allowing us
to be aware of our surroundings.
 Effects behavior and feelings
 Triggered by stress
 Involves worrying or uneasiness of a situation
Anxiety

4. How Does Anxiety Begin?
 Adrenalin is released and
dopamine levels decrease
 heightened attention to anxiety
source
 Triggers fight or flight response
 Normal anxiety should not be
viewed negatively.
 Helps influence human beings to
accomplish goals
 Diagnosed as a disorder when
symptoms become more
frequent and chronic

5. How Anxiety Contributes To Academics
 Test Anxiety:
 type of performance anxiety that
a person experiences when
their expectations of their
performance are set to a high
standard.
 Ball State and Purdue University
 The Scholastic Aptitude Test
 168 undergraduate students
(Cassady, J., & Johnson, R, 2002)

6. The Production of Fear and
Anxiety
Amygdala:
communicates
with other parts
of the brain that
process
incoming signals
Hippocampus:
encodes
threatening
events into
memories
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_zPXYxK
EBk
Alemán-Gómez, Y., MelieGarcía, L., & ValdésHernández, P., 2006

7. How Test Anxiety Develops
 Genetics
 family history
 Brain Chemistry
 Chemical imbalance of
neurotransmitters
 prevents nerve cells from receiving vital
information
 Negative thoughts
 Environment
 Competition
 Stressors

8. Understanding Anxiety
 Test anxiety can hinder
someone tremendously
 Overall, anxiety is normal
 Anxiety can either be good or
bad
 Identify the source of the anxiety
& try to effectively deal with it

9. Treatment/ Seeking Help
Medication (Prescription Drugs)
 Antidepressants
 Anti-anxiety drugs
 Beta-blockers
 SSRIs
 Tricyclics
 MAOIs
Therapy
 Psychotherapy
 talking with a mental health
professional to identify the type of
anxiety and the symptoms
correlating with that particular type
of anxiety.
 Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
 Cognitive  Changing the thinking
patterns
 Behavioral Changing the reaction
to anxiety

10. Coping/Overcoming Academic Anxiety
Mind-Body Relaxation
 Deep Breathing
 Progressive muscle relaxation
 Imagery
 Cognitive approach
 Meditation
Mental Preparation
 Realistically evaluating the
significance of an exam or
presentation
 Meditation; mental relaxation
 Confidence & Positively thinking
 Visualization

11. Effects of Anxiety
 Physiological
 Rapid heart rate, sweating, knot in
stomach, headache
 Behavioral
 Indecisive about answers, unable to organize
thoughts, going blank
 Psychological
 Feelings of nervousness, restless, low
confidence

12. Relationship between Anxiety &
Performance

13. Before the Test
 Avoid cramming & procrastination
 Ask important questions
 Pay close attention to what the





professor goes over a lot in class
Test yourself
Eat a healthy breakfast
Be on time
Come into the testing room with
confidence
Stay positive & positively visualize
success

14. During the Test
 Use test taking strategies & continue
with confidence
 Read the directions & questions
carefully
 Read the directions & questions more
than once
 Pace yourself
 Look through the test before attacking
it
 Remember to relax and stay positive
throughout the whole test

15. After the Test
 Completely forget about the test
 Be happy that the test is over
 Relax completely after taking the test
 Staying positive after taking the test
 Positively visualize success as an
outcome of taking the test

16. Sources

Academic Anxiety Syndrome and Its Treatment by Anxiety Task Force. (n.d.). Smart Family System. Retrieved November 10, 2013, from
http://smartfamilysystem.com/academic_anxiety_syndrome.html

Alemán-Gómez, Y., Melie-García, L., & Valdés-Hernández, P. (2006, November 7). Individual Brain Atlas Process. IBASPM:Individual Brain
Atlases using Statistical Parametric Mapping Software. Retrieved November 20, 2013, from http://www.thomaskoenig.ch/Lester/ibaspm.htm

Anxiety Disorders. (n.d.). National Institute of Mental Health. Retrieved November 18, 2013, from
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders/index.shtml

Anxiety Disorders: Types, Causes, and Symptoms. (n.d.). ReachOut Blog. Retrieved November 20, 2013, from
http://us.reachout.com/facts/factsheet/anxiety-disorders-types-causes-and-symptoms

Cassady, J., & Johnson, R. (2002). Cognitive Test Anxiety And Academic Performance. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 27(2), 270295.

Cornell University. (n.d.). Understanding Academic Anxiety. Retrieved November 22, 2013, from Cornell University:
http://lsc.cornell.edu/Sidebars/Study_Skills_Resources/anxiety.pdf

Debra Clough-Stokan, S. H. (n.d.). Academic Anxiety Syndrome and It's Treatment By Anxiety Task Force. Retrieved November
22, 2013, from Smart Family System: http://smartfamilysystem.com/academic_anxiety_syndrome.html

Edlin, G., & Golanty, E. (2010). Mental Health and Mental Illness. Health & wellness (10th ed., p. 73). Sudbury, Mass.: Jones and Bartlett
Publishers.

Facts & Statistics. (n.d.). Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA. Retrieved November 18, 2013, from
http://www.adaa.org/about-adaa/press-room/facts-statistics

Nordqvist, C. (2009, February 10). "What is Anxiety? What Causes Anxiety? What To Do About It.." Medical News Today. Retrieved from
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/7603.

17. Sources Continued

Stanford University Medical Center (2009, December 30). Brain scans show distinctive patterns in people with
generalized anxiety disorder. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 22, 2013, from
http://www.sciencedaily.com-/releases/2009/12/091207164850.htm

Stress and anxiety. (n.d.). Medline Plus. Retrieved October 9, 2013, from
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003211.htm

Study Skills Library. (n.d.). Student Academic Services. Retrieved November 22, 2013, from Cal Poly:
http://www.sas.calpoly.edu/asc/ssl/testanxiety.html

Test Anxiety. (2006, October 23). Retrieved November 22, 2013, from Minnesota State University Mankato:
http://www.mnsu.edu/counseling/students/tanxiety.html

Test Anxiety. (n.d.). Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA. Retrieved November 20, 2013, from
https://www.adaa.org/living-with-anxiety/children/test-anxiety

Test Anxiety. (n.d.). TeensHealth. Retrieved October 30, 2013, from
http://kidshealth.org/teen/homework/tips/test_anxiety.html

The National Institute of Mental Health. (n.d.). Anxiety Disorders. Retrieved November 22, 2013, from The Natioanl
Institute of Mental Health: http://www.nimh.nih.gov//index.shtml

Understanding Academic Anxiety. (n.d.). Cornell University Learning Strategies Center. Retrieved October 9, 2013, from
http://lsc.cornell.edu/Sidebars/Study_Skills_Resources/F13%20updated%20pdfs%20of%20study%20skills%20resource
s/Understanding%20Academic%20Anxiety.pdf

What Are Anxiety Disorders? (n.d.). Global Medical Education. Retrieved November 22, 2013, from
http://www.gmeded.com/gme-info-graphics/what-are-anxiety-disorders