Life Among the Tested

My daughter is going through that nasty part of life where you have to “earn” your license via testing for State, Federal, or whatever board, group, sect, etc… needs to “prove” you are good enough for them.  For here it’s her National Boards for her practicing Psychological testing.  That’s not the official name, but, well honestly, who cares?

Anyway, this is a humongous test taking hours, costing your first-born, and giving you permission to do what you just earned your Doctorate to do.  I went through all this with my teaching licenses. Side story – when I was taking one of my many teaching exams, I sat down and the woman up front, whose breath was dusty from repetition and so forth, told me that the test would start in 10 minutes.

If I was not in my seat at that moment, I would not be testing.

If I talked, I would not be testing.

If I distracted others I would not be testing, so I needed to be ready.

I had to go to the bathroom.  I got up, could not find the men’s room, so I knocked on the women’s restroom, and said that I had to go and was coming in (there was no one in there, by the way).  I went, returned, and sat down.

Worst part?  I had 2 hours to finish the test.  I was not “allowed” to leave early and had not brought anything with me.  I finished in about 50 minutes, including checking my answers.  I had to “sit” and not sleep for fear of yawning or snoring for 70 minutes while everyone else finished.  Yes, I passed.  This happened a second time, though without the restroom ordeal.

Anyway, I was talking to my daughter about this testing and realized that they need a “disclaimer” on tests, just like on medicines.  It would look something like this:

The taking of this test in oral, written, or electronic fashion can cause:

• Chest pain or discomfort
• Chills or hot flushes
• Derealization (feelings of unreality) or depersonalization (being detached from oneself)
• Fear of losing control
• Feeling dizzy, unsteady, lightheaded, or faint
• Feeling of choking
• Nausea or abdominal distress
• Palpitations or tachycardia
• Paresthesias
• Sensations of shortness of breath or smothering
• Sense of impending doom
• Sweating
• Trembling or shaking

If more than one test is taken in short order, so that several are taken in any 6 month period, the individual may find:

* Difficult to control the worry.

* Restlessness or feeling keyed up or on edge

*  Feeling of being easily fatigued

*  Difficulty concentrating or mind going blank

*  Irritability

*  Muscle tension

*  Sleep disturbance

Research has also shown that patients suffering from test-taking are generally more sensitive to physiologic changes than nontest-taking patients, and test-taking sufferers are even more sensitive to these than panic disorder patients. Objective testing, (how do you objectively test on test-takers?) however, reveals that physiologic changes between test-taking and nontest-taking patients are comparable. This heightened sensitivity leads to diminished autonomic flexibility, which may be the result of faulty central information processing in test-taking persons.

I know that I had many of these symptoms for many years, especially during college (hmm, and marriage).  It is my own opinion that, for the ease of benefit to the psychological health of all individuals that testing of any type be removed from education and all working situations.  While this may play havoc with the governmental and educational organizations, keeping them from their bureaucratic impediments to our growth and success, I think it is a necessary implementation that will prove out to be both beneficial to the individuals and society alike in the long run.

Tea anyone?

Credits ________________________________________________________________

The above information was gathered (and altered) from the symptoms and such for Anxiety Disorders and has been used for entertainment purposes only.   The source of the original information used was from:

Cleveland Clinic: Center for Continuing Education;  Anxiety Disorders – Jess Rowney, Teresa Hermida, and Donald Malone

Web page: http://www.clevelandclinicmeded.com/medicalpubs/diseasemanagement/psychiatry-psychology/anxiety-disorder/

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Namaste,

Scott