How To Handle Exam Stress And Anxiety

With board examination results due next month, both children as well as parents must understand.

There is no denying the fact that exam results can be a big deal not just for students but for parents, teachers, schools, tutors and significant others as well. While the exam season is known to bring with itself inherent stress levels be it in terms of preparing for the exams, dealing with the academic burden, or actually dealing with the anxiety of writing the examination facing the results is definitely one of the most stressful aspects almost universally.

Common concerns related to exam stress: Many hospitals and experts have been doing their bit to tackle exam stress effectively. Exam stress helplines, too, have been launched, where a team of experts are available 24x7 to offer support and guidance related to examinations to the students as well as parents. Despite a growing level of awareness and information among the students about the importance of dealing with exam stress, fears as well as concerns linger, thus affecting the young minds at the crucial time of taking a test.

For instance, it is common for children to be concerned about simple issues like managing their time efficiently, not letting exam stress have an adverse impact on regulation of their routine, being unable to concentrate due to high distractibility as well as not coming up to expectations of oneself and others. In fact, a very common concern reported universally by a lot of students, be it in school or college, is their inability to strike a balance between studying and other aspects of lives. This becomes a major contributor to exam-related stress.

Last but not the least is the concern stemming from anticipation of exam results. The fear of marks governing not just the actual evaluation of their performance but also being correlated with their future, which remains at stake, lurks in young minds continuously. In fact, this over emphasis on marks can inadvertently be detrimental not just for students but for parents as well. Especially given the competitiveness of admissions, both students and parents continue to have worries about exam results.

Examinations are a learning opportunity: It is important for us to realise that any examination should be viewed not just as a hurdle or challenge that needs to be dreaded but can become an opportunity to test our ability and apply certain skill-sets for better use. Moreover, examinations are not just related to the educational system but are, in fact, a never-ending process the journey of life in itself can be viewed as a series of examinations one after the other as we are tested time and again by never-ending opportunities, challenges and circumstances.

Therefore, we also need to look at the most important aspect of dealing with stress associated with examinations, which is related to social factors. For instance, the attitude and approach of parents be it dealing with their own anxieties or stress levels about exam results can impact their children's ability to prepare for exams and their actual performance, not to forget the impact on the parent-child relationship in the process. On the other hand, the kind of peer support available is also extremely crucial to recognise, especially given the importance students attach to the impact of their results on their peer groups and vice versa.

In fact, comparisons made by students with their peers can play a pivotal role in determining their stress levels, not just during the time of preparation but also in making career choices. It is not surprising to see students being more concerned about what their parents or friends will think of their results than what they themselves would feel about their performance.

How to handle exam stress and anxiety - we should be able to identify our strengths and capitalise on them, while also addressing our weaknesses and devising strategies in order to overcome them and improve in the near future. for more information visit: dailypioneer.com.

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