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Anxiety disorders

Test Anxiety

The intent of this booklet is to help students and parents better understand test anxiety, and to provide methods to help students cope with test anxiety and ultimately be successful in their courses. Students should read this booklet carefully, consider which aspects of test anxiety apply to them, and then identify coping strategies that may help address the anxiety.

Dungeons, Dragons and Anxiety

Jose-Carlos loved immersing himself in the worlds of his favourite games and found that focusing on the fantasy world helped him cope when problems or stress came up, but as his anxiety worsened, he found using games as a distraction didn’t work. Instead, he found a way to practice cognitive-behavioural therapy skills to tackle anxiety in games before trying those skills in the real world. In discovering his strengths in virtual reality, Jose-Carlos found strength and confidence in the real world—and developed a healthier relationships with games.

Anxiety disorders

Anxiety disorders are a group of mental illnesses related to some way to anxiety: generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia, social anxiety disorder, specific phobia, separation anxiety disorder, and selective mutism. Anxiety is a normal and healthy response to problems or difficult situations—everyone feels anxious at times. Anxiety can be a problem when it comes up often, seems to come up for no reason, or becomes difficult to control. This can make it hard for people to go about their lives.

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