•••• Coping with exam stress Here’re some tips to tackle exam stress •••• The board exams are round the corner and students are preparing hard, studying overtime. Exams put students under immense pressure to perform and meet the expectations of their parents. Students are often stressed out as exams near. They try to complete their syllabus and study books for endless hours. Parents are perennially anxious while their peers always seem to be a step ahead. The fear of failure and the pressure to succeed can overburden children. The immediate effect of anxiety is usually withdrawal, tetchiness, waywardness, belligerence or aggression. These signs are often dismissed as mood swings archetypal of puberty. Other signs are lethargy, weeping outburst, significant weight loss or gain, or changes in appetite patterns, sleeplessness, oversleeping, difficulty in concentrating, indigestion, stomachache, headaches and retching. If ignored and allowed to fester, they can lead to depression. Teachers always advice their students to study for couple of hours every day, throughout the year. This is actually a very effective way of avoiding the last minute preparation pressure and stress. But there are hardly any takers. Students still tend to start preparing at end of the session, right before the exams start. “Exam time is a very tough period for students. Most of the students do not follow a systematic schedule or plan throughout the year. Consequently they have to memorize huge syllabus in limited time. Being overburdened and realizing expectations from them, exams give them sleepless nights. Then of course there is the fear of failure,” says Shabir Wani, a teacher. He further describes the social denunciation of the students who are unable to perform well. “Our callous society has become so competitive that there is no space for non performers. Students are under tremendous pressure to perform so that they are among the ‘favourites’,” he adds. “My parents feel I don’t study enough and they are always nagging over my head. There is certain mistrust on their part,” complains Owais, a class 10th student. Parents also play a pivotal role in dealing with exam stress of their wards. Experts say they should not lecture their child about studying a day before the exam. Instead, they should make sure that their children are not stressed and ready to take the examinations. They should avoid giving orders and instead give advice. “Family support is most important for a child. During exams children easily lose temper, so parents should avoid using force,” says Dr. Abdul Vakil, Child Psychologist at G. B. Pant Hospital. “They should listen to them, be more patient and avoid confrontation with their self esteem.” Dr. Vakil also feels that parents are often unable to diagnose and sometimes ignore the psychological problems of their children. “If parents notice any behavioural changes in their children, they should not hesitate in taking help from an expert,” he says, adding that there is reluctance in Kashmiri society when it comes to taking medical help for psychological problems. He also relates the growing drug abuse problem with stress. “To avoid these stresses and pressures students may also get into drug addiction. This is not confined to just male students but also some females as well,” he says. HOW TO HANDLE EXAM STRESS Stress-inducing factors during exams are inevitable and it is very important to learn how to handle them. The following tips can be helpful in coping with the stress. Get Enough Sleep Adequate sleep is really important for our body to function properly. Students often compromise with their sleep during the exams. To concentrate and retain information students must sleep at least 6-7 hours a day. Following a routine, sleeping and waking up at around same time every night and morning respectively can be very helpful Proper Diet Eating a proper diet and at regular intervals is also very important. Having 5-6 light meals, spaced regularly through the day is better than having 2 or 3 heavy meals. Heavy meals divert the blood supply to the digestive tract and causes fatigue. Eat healthy food with a wide variety, predominantly of fruits and vegetables. Avoid eating spicy and oily food. Drink lots of water and stay hydrated. Stay Organized It is important to follow an organized schedule and time table. Prepare a suitable plan and follow a systematic method of studying. Each day and week can be proportionately divided to study preferred topics. Topics can be allocated a certain time frame and worked upon accordingly. Regular Breaks Continuously sitting and going through countless paragraphs of text drains out the brain. It is therefore very important to take regular breaks. A break of 5-10 minutes every hour unwinds the body. A walk outdoors in bright light may prove to be a good energy booster. Write Regularly Many students feel stressed because they forget what they have studied when they sit to revise. This is due to lack of writing regularly. Writing while studying is very helpful for memorizing lessons. It also gives students practice for exams and also helps in improving their writing speed. Research has proved that those who keep writing always perform better than those who don’t.
Posted on: Mon, 30 Sep 2013 04:36:06 +0000
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