With the school year winding down, students of all ages are preparing for end-of-year exams. However, those final tests often cause anxiety for many students.

DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - With the school year winding down, students of all ages are preparing for end-of-year exams. However, those final tests often cause anxiety for many students.

Lisa Lawrence, a licensed clinical social worker with OSF Healthcare, said there are a lot of reasons why students might feel those nerves.

"[They] maybe had a negative experience in the past, they might be connecting performance with their own self-esteem, they may have a fear of failure, it might be rooted in perfectionism," she said.

Some students just think they're bad test takers. Lawrence said those "butterflies" play a role in whether a student can recall information while taking an exam.

"Your brain might be interpreting this test as a threat to you, so your body is reacting in a way that's ready to fight or flight or maybe freeze, which is the forgetting everything you're trying to recall in the moment," Lawrence said. 

There are ways to try and diminish those nerves, like counting down from five and taking long, deep breaths. Changing study habits can also help you feel more prepared when exam day comes.

"Chunk it out and give yourself time," Lawrence advised. "So, that might mean instead of studying the morning of or the night before, just try to sketch out a week leading up to it and set a timer, giving yourself 20 minutes to look and do as much as you can in that time. And then set it down and do another thing that might nourish you."

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