If you’ve ever walked out of a CAT mock feeling confident, maybe even a little proud, only to take the next one and feel like you’ve forgotten everything overnight, you’ve experienced what I call the “Mock Hangover.” 

It’s that strange slump where your score doesn’t reflect the effort you’ve been putting in, your accuracy seems to dip for no reason, and even familiar topics feel foreign. You’re not actually getting worse, but your brain is convincing you that you are. The truth is, mock hangovers aren’t about skill loss. They’re psychological. And understanding them might just save you from that spiral of self-doubt that kills consistency.

The Aftermath of Overanalysis

After a tough mock, what do most of us do? We dive straight into analysis. We obsess over every RC we misread, every Quant question we left unsolved, every silly mistake that cost us marks. We scroll through solutions, replay the test in our heads, and promise ourselves, “Next time, I won’t repeat this.” But here’s the hidden trap that kind of overanalysis can make your brain tense and hyper-aware.

When you enter your next mock, you’re not calm, you’re cautious. You hesitate before marking an answer, second-guess a decision you’d normally make instinctively, and spend more time thinking about your mistakes than about solving. In trying to fix the past, you’re burdening your present.

The Confidence-Accuracy Paradox

There’s an interesting paradox at play during mocks: the moment you try to be more “careful,” your accuracy often drops. Why? Because CAT rewards flow, not fear. When you’re in the zone, solving, reading, and thinking naturally, your brain processes faster and trusts its intuition. 

But when you’re anxious, your working memory overloads. You start double-checking easy answers, rereading RC lines, or solving one more step in a Quant question you already knew. The result? Time loss. And with that comes panic. That’s the “hangover” hitting your brain’s residue from the previous mock still clouding your confidence.

You’re Still Improving :) 

During the hangover phase, you’re often improving the most. Your mind is integrating feedback, rewiring mistakes, and learning to adjust under new pressures. But this kind of growth is invisible at first. It feels uncomfortable because your old habits are breaking. Just like strength training, where your muscles feel sore before they get stronger, mock recovery hurts before it helps.

The key is to give your brain time to recover. Don’t rush into another mock the very next day. Let the analysis sink in, revise weak areas in isolation, and do an unhurried study session before your next test. 

Resetting the Emotional Residue

Another reason your next mock feels worse is emotional carryover. When you’ve spent hours reliving your mistakes, your brain associates mocks with stress instead of curiosity. The fix? Reframe your mocks as experiments, not judgments. Instead of thinking “I need to score better,” go in with “Let’s see how this new strategy works.” You shift from performance to progress, and that subtle switch changes everything.

Trust the Long Game

Mock hangovers don’t mean you’re regressing; they mean you’re adapting. Improvement in CAT prep is rarely linear; it’s cyclical. You rise, plateau, dip, and rise again. The key is to not let a temporary slump rewrite your narrative.

So the next time you feel like your scores are betraying your hard work, take a breath. Step back. The hangover will pass.

What stays is your endurance, your awareness, and your ability to keep showing up, mock after mock, no matter how the last one made you feel.