Lesser Known Facts That Affect your Mental health During Exams
Exam stress and anxiety can harm your studies and your health by causing sleeping and eating issues.
Mental health is the state of one’s psychological, emotional, and social wellbeing. Keeping our minds healthy is also part of mental wellness. Proper mental health leads to good mental functioning, which is produced in one’s daily tasks. People frequently forget that the brain is an integral aspect of our being, if not the most vital part of our bodies, and many overlook mental fitness. They are mostly concerned with maintaining their physical well-being. Only because of his highly developed brain is man deemed superior to other animals.
Mental and physical health are intertwined and equally crucial for peak performance and high quality of life.
An emotionally healthy person will constantly feel lively and fully alive and will be able to handle emotionally challenging events with ease. Physical fitness is followed by mental fitness. Depression, anger, pessimism, anxiety, frustration, and other emotional issues all impact our fitness level. A fit, healthy person in a positive mood may readily deal with any distressing or unpleasant situation.
The content of the new exams has become an increasingly concerning issue, as it has burdened students with an excessive amount of unnecessary stress, which may harm their mental health now and in the future. With 29 percent of the 201 teen suicides in 2014 occurring while waiting for exam results or during the exams themselves (according to a BBC report), the focus is now on creating a safe space where issues and concerns can be discussed.
It could be linked to a bad exam experience in the past, poor preparation, a sense of failure, or pressure to succeed.
The experience of taking exams can be very threatening for children and young people who are anxious in general, and it can lead to unmanageable increases in anxiety levels.
Academic anxiety may be more common in students who struggle with schoolwork and those with special educational needs or mental health issues. In addition, high achievers, particularly overly perfectionistic children or whose parents have lofty goals for them, can suffer from this.
Suppose this student focused their attention on the one occasion when they did not do well rather than on the times when they did well. In that case, they might experience a conditioning process in which they anticipate future exam circumstances, making them feel sick.
Negative Feedback Anticipation
On the other hand, there may be a situation when a student has gotten negative information about tests on specific topics or from specific teachers, leading them to expect a poor grade, making them feel more anxious.
Negative Self-Perception
Another explanation could be the student’s lifelong opinions about their personality.
Also Read – Is exam pressure bad? how to handle it?
What Exactly is Stress?
Stress is an unavoidable part of everyday life. Positive, tolerable, and toxic stress are the three types of stress identified by the Harvard Centre for the Developing Child.
- Positive stress, Some stress can be beneficial to children and teenagers, as it can help them learn coping skills and build resilience.
- Temporary stress can be tolerated, especially if children and teenagers have developed resilience and are surrounded by strong adult relationships.
- Toxic stress occurs when stress responses are activated for an extended period without the benefit of being protected by strong adult relationships.
Sensing the Symptoms:
Signs of academic stress can sometimes be difficult to identify. As a result, students, especially teenagers, may be reluctant to discuss the stress they have been experiencing.
- Anxiety and stress regarding tests and schoolwork may cause youth to:
- Physical health issues are brought up (e.g., stomach aches, headaches, etc.).
- You may not be getting enough sleep or eating correctly.
- Have mood swings such as crying, becoming furious, or withdrawing.
- Be apprehensive about going to school or discussing examinations and exams.
- They either spend a lot of time on their work or avoid schoolwork.
- Be excessively critical of oneself and any errors one makes.
- They become compulsive in their job habits, unable or unable to break free.
But now let us see the real symports and lesser-known facts that affect your mental health during exams:
Anxiety
It is a frequent feeling when coping with daily stressors and issues.
Stress has become a common feeling when dealing with stressful situations and problems. Anxiety becomes a problem when these feelings are chronic, excessive, and unreasonable, interfering with a person’s capacity to perform. Anxiety disorders include phobia, panic and anxiety disorders, and conduct disorder.
Symptoms include anxiety, disorientation, agitation, helplessness, negative thoughts, muscle tightness, palpitations, and difficulty breathing.
Treatment and assistance: Relaxation techniques and regular exercise, for example, are useful in lowering anxiety and promoting emotional wellbeing. Psychotherapy can aid in reducing and eliminating signs and symptoms, and it is occasionally used in conjunction with medicine.
Addiction
What is addiction? Addiction is defined as a person’s compulsive need to engage in particular behaviors regardless of the consequences. For example, a person can become addicted to substances (such as alcohol or drugs) or activities (such as sports) (sex, gambling, the Internet). The person’s frequency and intensity of activity rise over time, and when they stop, they have unpleasant sentiments or emotions.
Symptoms include a loss of control, social issues such as being unable to concentrate in school or at work due to the addiction, making excuses or lying to continue with the activity, and engaging in risky behavior to continue with the activity (such as borrowing large sums of money to gamble).
Individual or group talk therapy might be beneficial, often in conjunction with medication to manage drug cravings.
Depression
What is depression? Depression is a long-term poor mood that interferes with daily functioning. Psychological and environmental variables and genetics cause it; studies show that life experiences such as poverty, losing a loved one, physical sickness, or abuse might raise the likelihood of becoming depressed. For some people, the risk is also inherited.
Symptoms Include:
- Persistent sorrow.
- Feelings of worthlessness.
- A loss of appetite.
- A lack of interest in activities.
- A tendency to become quickly agitated, among others.
Treatment and assistance include exercise, talk therapy with a skilled counselor or psychotherapist, and support groups.
Eating Disorders
Eating disorders are significant illnesses caused by uncontrollable eating habits that negatively influence your health, emotions, and capacity to perform in crucial areas of life. Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorders are the most common eating disorders.
Most eating disorders entail obsessing over your weight, body form, and food, leading to unhealthy eating habits. These habits can have a big impact on your body’s ability to get enough nutrition. Eating disorders can injure the digestive system, heart, teeth, bones, and mouth and cause other health problems.
Also Read – How to handle engineering college Pressure
What Arya College Main Campus does to Support its Students:
- Exam preparation by providing revision workshops and assisting students in creating a study regimen that allows them to track their progress.
- Encourage students to join small study groups or partners to help them remember what they’ve learned.
- Allow students to become comfortable with the exam environment, including the room, the function of the invigilator, the rules, and the schedules.
- Ensure your school provides consistent health and wellness lessons that follow a solid curriculum. Health and well-being education is a crucial chance for children and young people to acquire important skills such as resilience, promote their mental health and wellbeing, and confront challenges with confidence.
- Be on the lookout for stress indicators in students and follow up to see how they’re doing.
