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Test Time Can Mean Real Anxiety For Some Students

DEARBORN (WWJ) - Test taking can be a headache for students, but for others it's a real time of anxiety.

WWJ's Marie Osborne reports, it's one man's mission to help those students get over that anxiety.

For over 20 years John Carroll, creator of Stop Test Anxiety, has helped Henry Ford Community College students get over the panic of test taking through self-hypnosis.

"There are all kinds of ways by which the anxiety level creeps into a person's life and if you learn how to neutralize your anxiety, you can get rid of a lot of bad habits," Carroll said.

"What I try to illustrate to the students is to go into a zone, much like an athlete might go into a performance zone to shoot buckets in a basketball game ... a performance zone in an academic environment," said Carroll.

Carroll says the purpose is to help test takers eliminate the stress and worry over tests and hypnosis is one of the ways to avoid the panic.

Although he admits that about 1 in 10 students don't benefit from self-hypnosis - most do, like these students who left  positive voice mails:

"I'm just calling to let you know I passed my test with an 89, and I'm so excited and I appreciate you helping me out," said the woman on the message.

One man left a message telling Carroll that he had gotten three A's in row after taking his class on testing.

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