Why Do I Freeze When Taking a Test?
Freezing during a test is more common than you might think. It happens when stress overwhelms your mind and body, making it hard to think clearly or recall information. This reaction, often called "test anxiety," is rooted in your brain’s natural stress response.
Kate McDavid
12/1/20241 min read
The Science Behind Freezing
When you see a test as a threat, your brain reacts by flooding your system with adrenaline, triggering one of the body’s stress responses:
• Fight or Flight: Adrenaline prepares your body to escape or confront the danger you fear. Blood rushes to your limbs to run or defend yourself—and out of your front brain, which is responsible for higher-level thinking. Your brain moves into survival mode, not at all ready to take an academic test. Extra energy floods your system, making you feel jittery. These responses make it hard to remember what you’ve learned to prepare for the test. You likely feel blocked and powerless, and this increases your anxiety and frustration.
• Freeze: The freeze response is also a legitimate protection in some situations, where it’s necessary to hide from predators. But it’s totally counterproductive while taking a test! For important tests, you want your memory, reasoning, and analytical abilities to be at their best, not out of service.
While defensive, stress responses are helpful in real danger, they can work against you in a test situation. If fight, flight, or freeze responses have ever interfered with your performance, it can be traumatic—and this increases your fear of taking tests in the future.
Triggers for Test Freezing
• Fear of failure: Worrying about disappointing yourself or others
• Perfectionism: Feeling immense pressure to achieve a specific score
• Negative experiences: Past struggles with tests can create a mental block
Do you relate to any of these triggers?
Take Back Control
Techniques like Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) and hypnotherapy can help reframe how you approach taking tests. These methods address the root cause of anxiety, giving you tools to feel more focused, calm, and confident.
Freezing doesn’t mean you’re not capable—it’s simply a reaction to stress. With the right tools and support, you can overcome test anxiety and perform at your best.