How to overcome stress during exams

Overcome exam stress

(Following suggestions are from a psychologist)

 Graduates often lose weight, suffer from insomnia, and even attempt suicide because coping with pre-exam stress is a difficult task for a teenager. The problem is exacerbated by relatives who want to organize a child at a prestigious university. For teachers, student failure can also be a personal failure, often the burden of others' expectations is unbearable for a teenager. 

How to relieve stress before the exam?

It is important to remember that for a teenager, the exam can be one of the first life tests, and a nervous breakdown due to excessive emotional stress will affect the psyche much more than in a similar situation in an adult and accomplished person.

• Visualization

The technique of "creative visualization" is available to everyone, but the easiest way is given to people with good imagination. Positive images of the future need to be presented in detail and replaced with frightening images of failed exams and expulsion from university. 

With the eye of your mind you can think not only about your life after passing the high score exam, but also imagine those sources of happiness and joy that will go nowhere, regardless of your grades. Favorite park, animal waiting for you at home, delicious food, sports - all these positive memories will help you calm down and go back to school with renewed power.

• Verbal self-suggestion

It is easy to switch and relax for a few minutes or even half an hour, to be at home and study in a normal atmosphere. But all the preparation can be useless, because not all students and pupils from schools can cope with the stress during the exam, sitting in front of an indifferent committee. In a situation where you are waiting for the turn to turn and you feel a growing nervous tension, one of the quick-acting psychological techniques will help you.

• Breathing exercises 

It is difficult to overcome a panic attack, it is important to overcome the fear as early as possible before the physical manifestations begin. Before calming down with sedatives, it is worth trying a few options for respiratory gymnastics: 

1) Counting from 1 to 4, take a breath. Hold your breath on a count from 1 to 4, then start counting again and exhale slowly. Repeat this cycle at least 5 times.

2) Inhale slowly and smoothly through the nose. Feel the air filling your chest and stomach. After that, exhale gently in reverse order, watching as the air leaves your abdomen and chest. You can place your palm on your stomach to feel the movement. Mentally repeat "I am here", concentrate on the sensations of the body. Breathing this way for a long time can be dangerous for a beginner, limit yourself to one minute. If you feel dizzy, stop exercising.

3) Take 3-4 quick breaths, then exhale slowly. Remember, when you feel suffocated during a panic attack, it is more important to control your exhalation. Your body will breathe on its own.

• Stress Exercise 

Test An effective way to relieve nervous tension is to relax and strain all muscle groups, from the fingers to the forehead and cheeks, in turn. Feeling each part of the body, try to tense all the muscles at the same time for a few seconds, then relax and sit for a few minutes without moving. This exercise is good in that it can be performed in any situation, even during a written test.

• Hand exercises

Hand exercises also contribute to relaxation. Massage each palm with the thumb of the other hand, making slow circular motions - 5 times counterclockwise, 5 times counterclockwise. 5 times in a row with effort, squeeze the fists and screwdrivers, spreading them and tightening the fingers. Mix each finger from the base to the pad and back, then rub your palms against each other for one minute, as if warming

• Psychologists' recommendations: 

how to get rid of stress due to exams Psychologists recommend that while preparing for the exam, you get enough sleep (at least 8 hours), do not neglect proper nutrition, alternating periods of study and rest, and often take a walk in the fresh air. The brain will need a lot of protein and glucose to deal with mental stress. Therefore, for preparing for exams is important to eat meat, fish, cottage cheese and eggs. Do not forget about the fruit, which contains useful trace elements and vitamins.