Exam Stress and How to deal with it?

We cannot deny that there is always a certain amount of pressure on students to perform well in exams. The steep or unrealistic expectations of family, friends, and relatives can be overwhelming and affect students’ mental health, adding unnecessary mental pressure. It is natural to be a bit bothered about exams, especially if you’re under pressure from school or family, but if the upcoming exams consume many of you and your life, it is something to be bothered. Sometimes the pressure you feel can help you stay focused; other times, it can cause stress, popularly known as Exam Stress. Exam stress can make you anxious or depressed, affecting your sleeping or eating patterns.

 Sings of stress:

• Feeling disoriented.
• Losing touch with friends
• Drastic mood swings
• Having trouble making decisions
• Feeling defeated
• Lack of urge to do anything
• Disturbed sleeping pattern
• Stiff muscles or headaches
• Having an upset stomach or feeling sick
• Worrying, nail-biting, teeth grinding

Possible cause of exam stress

• Fear of failing in exams
• feeling unprepared for exams
• desperate urge to do well
• Lack of time to study
• The pressure to get a particular result
• Difficulty in understanding what they’re studying
• Constant pressure from family to get good marks
• Comparison with others
• Other things happening in their personal life

How to deal with exam stress

Exam stress is natural, and we have listed an array of things that you can do to help deal with the exam stress you might feel:-

• Understand the fact that – exams aren’t everything. Failing in an exam does not mean failure in life. So even if you don’t do well as you’d hoped, try to keep things in a positive perspective. Also, understand that Exam success doesn’t define you as a person; there’s so much more to your personality. Remember, you are more than your grades and marks. Even when you go for a job hunt in your life ahead, employers don’t just look at your exam scores. They’re just as interested in your attitude, communication, and leadership skills and how well you’ll get on with other people. So once you are done with an exam, try to forget about it. There’s nothing you can do about it, and worrying won’t change anything.
• Work out on the basics. Don’t try to mug up things; instead, understand the concepts. Also, prioritize the topics that will help you score good marks.
• Prepare a realistic study plan and stick to the routine so that you don’t have any dilemmas at the start of the day about where you should begin. Equally, don’t panic if you go slightly off schedule – tomorrow is another day.
• Treat yourself with mini rewards once you achieve your study goals– like watching your favorite TV show or go for a run.
• Break your revision down into small chunks, and form a plan.

Get into some good habits that will help you concentrate as well as reducing stress. Habits like :

1. Take breaks. Studies suggest that we can only concentrate properly for 30-45 minutes. So you could go for a walk or even make a cup of tea in your break time.
2. Eat healthy food like fruit and veggies.
3. Drink lots of water to keep yourself hydrated.
4. Determine your most productive hours since not everyone is a morning person. There’s no one best place or time to work – it’s all about what works for you, which is unique for every person.
5. Exercising, Yoga, Meditation are some of the quickest and most effective ways to de-stress.
6. Try to get about 8 hours’ sleep a night.
7. Pick up a hobby or do anything that relaxes you.

Avoid bad habits like:

1. Don’t set yourself unrealistic goals. Nobody can revise ten topics in a day.
2. Don’t cut out all your life enjoyment because it’s impossible to focus without giving your brain rest by doing other activities.
3. Avoid stimulants like Caffeine, alcohol, and drugs that impede your energy and concentration in the long term. It’ll also make you sleep deprived.
4. Stop comparing yourself to others. It can be really stressful. Understand that we’re all different, and that’s okay.
5. Stay away from distractions like social media, alcohol, drugs, etc.

If possible, get support from friends and family. Talk to them to let them know what you think you have the capacity to achieve and to insist that the best way to get there is to have support from your parents, not pressure. It helps to get anxiety and stress out of your system, and they may well be able to help think about practical strategies to deal with exam stress.

There is always a certain pressure on students to perform well in exams. The unrealistic expectations of family, friends, and relatives can be overwhelming and affect students’ mental health, adding unnecessary mental pressure. It is natural to be a bit bothered about exams, especially if you’re under pressure from school or family, but if the upcoming exams consume many of you and your life, it is something to be bothered. Exams don’t define you. You are more than that so excessively stressing about good marks will lead you nowhere.