Suma, a 12th-grade student feels a surge of stress a fortnight before her board exams. Despite her hard work and excellent preparation, she feels low confidence and anxiety. She often suffers bouts of headache, tensed muscles and sleeplessness. This makes her feel irritable and confused. Throughout the day, she has her internal talk “what if I fail to get above 95%, what if I don’t get admission to this college….” and much more. She copes with distractions. For her parents, she seemed to be chilling out. ‘Are you not tensed; you have your exams in 10 days” that is the provocation at home. Suma feels her self-esteem getting low and she is more anxious than ever before. She is so terrified that she wants to skip the exams. What Suma is going through is exam stress and anxiety.
Exam stress and anxiety
A recent survey reveals that 81% of school students perceive, “Studies, examinations and results” to be a major source of anxiety. About 25% of students have said they experience high anxiety levels. Students may stress out due to:
- Fear of failure,
- Pressure from parents to get good scores,
- Lack of preparation,
- Facing difficulty with challenging subjects, and
- Running out of time may make a student stressed out.
Despite being well prepared for the exams, some students may feel test anxiety. Test anxiety is a type of performance anxiety. Wherein the student feels anxious before the exams. They may even blank out during exams. It is when the pressure is on and good performance counts. While a little bit of nervousness is necessary to stay motivated. Extreme reactions like anxiety and stress are harmful to student’s mental health.
The good news is, there are ways to reduce anxiety and stress. Here’s how.
Tips for Parents
1. Parents need to observe the changes in the behaviour of their children during exam time. If you notice your child being irritable, angry and helpless, it’s time to help them. You can help them by lending an empathetic listening to their concerns and worries.
2. Parents can build the right kind of environment at home for the child to trust them. With this, they feel encouraged to ask for help.
3. You can be supportive, encouraging and motivating to your child. Have a positive conversation with your child. Appreciate their achievements, however small it may be. This will increase their morale and self-esteem.
4. Parents need to understand the negative effects of placing high expectations on the child’s performance. Every child’s performance level is different. Respect your child’s choices and plans.
5. You can educate your child about healthy competition. Competition should be with oneself. This motivates the child to take interest in studies and excel.
6. As a parent, you can also educate your child on the importance of exams as assessment and grading tools. Exams are not a determinant of life and death situations. Approach exams with a positive attitude.
Tips for Children
- Have healthy food including fruits and nuts. Avoid junk food.
- 7-8 hours of goodnight’s sleep.
- Effectively manage time using timetables and manage to stick to the schedule.
- Allot time for leisure activities and entertainment.
- Take breaks between study hours.
- Undertake group study and encourage positive peer pressure.
- Stay away from distractions like mobile phone notifications and message alerts.
- Allot time to revise and avoid last-minute preparation.
- Practice Mudras. such as Gyan mudra, Hakini mudra, and Adi mudra to increase memory power, focus, and concentration. Practice for 15 minutes a day with your eyes closed and spine straight. It also helps to relieve stress and calm the mind. Mudras are easy to practice.
- Get your doubts clarified by your teacher.
More than scoring high marks or how well you remember things, it is the belief in your competencies and intelligence that makes you successful. With proactive efforts, parents’ support, and a positive attitude, exams can no longer be a generator of stress and anxiety.
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