Examination Stress
“Stress is not what happens to us. It is our response to what happens. And Response is something we can choose.”
These days, stress has become part of everyone’s life. ‘Stress’ term is applied to the pressures people feel in life. It has become too common part of life today, something few individuals can avoid. Stress is not simply anxiety, nervous tension, damaging, bad or to be avoided. ‘Stress’ means that it is state of emotional or psychological reaction occurring in response to demands within or outside any situation. ‘Stressors’ are disruptive in nature; they are the once who give stress response and ‘strain’ are reaction to external stressors. Stress makes mental exhaustion appears in the form of irritability, anxiety, feelings of helplessness and hopelessness.
Examination stress had been a major problem in student’s life. This cause lot of physical and mental health issues in one’s individual life. Examination stress is a common phenomenon that involves feelings of tension uneasiness that occur before, during or after an examination. Many students experience anxiety around examinations and find it helpful in some ways, as it keeps motivating and create the pressure that is needed to stay focused on one’s performance. Examination nerves, worry, or fear of failure re normal for even most talented student. However, in some cases, stress of formal examinations results in such a high degree of anxiety in some students that they are unable to perform at a level, which matches the potential, they have shown in less stressful classroom situations.
Stress is poison. ~ Agavé Powers
Examination stress result into test anxiety, which adversely affects test performance. This kind of stress caused by lot of reasons. It can be environment where a student lives is not positive which makes his/her confidence level low all the time. Then, psychologically the student feels not good because “frustration leads to stress”. The student work hard according to his/her level but cannot make it to that level or it can discrimination between good or bad students. Some internal pressures stem from beliefs based upon expectations from inside us to ourselves such as, ‘I must do everything perfectly’. Social pressures may be brought from people who make excessive demands on us. In some people life many hassles take place like noisy surroundings, commuting, quarrelsome at home or in neighborhood, electricity, and water shortage, traffic snarls etc. Some traumatic events like any kind disaster happen in someone’s life such as earthquake, floods, fire and many more. The more these kinds of stressors increase day by day, the poorer is their psychological well-being.
Stress is nothing more than a socially acceptable form of mental illness. ~ Richard Carlson
These stressors cause major strain into student’s life. As like, the student who experience stress experience mood swings, erratic behavior that may alienate them from family and friends. That also leads to low levels of confidence, negative thoughts about themselves low self – esteem, low status, feelings of anxiety, fear, worry, and depression. Some people also go through by physiological effects like there are changes in heart rate, blood pressure levels, metabolism and physical activity. Cognitive changes also happen in this state like poor concentration and reduced short-term memory capacity. Students also change behavioral habits like eating less nutritional food, intake of caffeine, excessive consumption of cigarettes, alcohol and other drugs such as tranquillizers etc. In addition, these addictive things resulting major drawbacks in student life.
Students who stressed about exams commit suicide. Profound depression led to suicidal thoughts, which all too often are translated into action. Competition leads to more stress which turn into suicide. Day by day, these suicide cases are increasing in a faster rate. Students who get fear of these exams they get into depression and make them major step to do it. A study was done on teenagers and young adults that they are higher risk of committing suicide rather than who are over 70 years of age. Men have a higher rate of suicide cases than women do.
“In times of great stress or adversity, it's always best to keep busy, to plow your anger and your energy into something positive.” - Lee Iacocca quotes
Students should overcome their examination stress by various points, which are given below. Students should make timetable or a planner how to study their different subjects and give small intervals in between. By this, they will the value time and the stress can reduce. Eating habits of students should improve so that if they eat healthy, they will have a healthy mind. When we our stressed, we seek ‘comfort foods’ which are high in fats, salt and sugar. They key should be to eat a varied balanced- diet and three meals a day.
Exercise will make them more positive effect on reducing tension, anxiety, and depression. Students should give some time various activities if they more pressurized such as yoga, swimming, cycling, jogging, walking, etc. Students should have positive attitude towards their goal that will highly affect physical and mental health. Social support from those people on whom we can rely upon, who know us, care about us, and love us. This will reduce stress and able to cope with it more in successful manner. Relaxation and meditation techniques help student reduce their anxiety levels during exams.
Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are. - Chinese Proverb
While preparing for examinations one must spend enough time for study according to a time table, overview and weigh one’s strengths and weaknesses of a particular subjects, discuss difficulties with teachers and classmates, plan a revision timetable, make notes according to your understanding, space out revision periods and most importantly on the examination day concentrate on staying calm and think about what are the topics you have revised.
The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another - William James
In the last, I would like to add that healthy competition would reduce the stress in students, as they have learnt in this part of life to move ahead in life like a rate race to fulfill their dreams. However, this will hamper person’s own life and make his/her future more in a negative way. So have a positive thinking to move further in life.
Give your stress wings and let it fly away. ~ Terri Guillemets
Written By:
Vidushi Sawhney
Professional Certified Career Counselor
New Delhi
Disclaimer: The opinion expressed in this post are the personal views of the author. They do not necessarily reflects the views of CraftUrCareer Educations Pvt. Ltd. Any omissions or errors are the authors and CraftUrCareer Educations Pvt. Ltd. does not assume any liability or responsibility for them.