Elevated stress levels can lead to poor health, an increased risk of accidents and irritability -- but as exams loom, coping strategies can be as simple as taking study breaks every 45 minutes, avoiding negative people and visualizing yourself succeeding.

"A lot of students experience the flight or fight response, which happens when you perceive something as dangerous and your body gets all adrenalized," said clinical social worker Mary Anne Knapp at a Center for Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) seminar last night. "The problem is, you can't fight with your professor and you can't just walk out of the test. So your body is all hyped up with nowhere to go."

Knapp and Ellie Olson, a CAPS counselor and pre-doctoral intern, said it is important to get enough sleep, eat proteins and complex carbohydrates, and balance work and play while preparing for exams.

Knapp said it is often helpful to imagine a peaceful place or a peaceful word, like the beach or 'calm.' Positive "self-chatter," she said, can also be crucial.

"We all talk to ourselves -- it doesn't mean you're crazy," she said. "It's about being aware of what kind of messages you're sending to yourself and what kind of person you're telling yourself you are. There can be this idea that you are your grades -- but it's important to remember what your strengths are and what you can do to succeed at that moment."

Olson recommended students establish a study plan a week before exams begin, set priorities for themselves and focus on learning the most important information first.

"A lot of the time, our instinct is to study, study, study, but research shows you'll be able to better retain the information if you space it out," she said. "Getting enough sleep each night -- not just the night before an exam -- is also a memory aid."

Knapp said students should reach out to professors for support or with questions.

"It helps sometimes to think of them as people who are paid to do this job, rather than authority figures you can't talk to," she said.

On the day of the exam, Olson said students should use all of the time provided, read the directions twice and realize they will not know the answer to every question. "Often times, we kind of freak out if we're the last ones in the room, but there's a reason you have all that time," she said. "Also, if you don't know the answer to one question, just skip around."