BANGALORE: It is the exam season again. For many students, nights have started becoming longer, late night movies and cartoon books have been replaced by syllabus books. Group studies are on the rise and coaching centers are busy with their concise and crash courses for the ones who are a bit slow.
Sweating foreheads on algebra problems and late night giddiness about is already on the rise. Overstress and exam pressure to excel in the exam has added to an array of health disorders, as most of the students complain about sleep disorders, eating distraction and tension due to high stress level. However, a lot can be done at an individual level.
Not only for those appearing for the exams but also the parents who play a pivotal role in bringing down the stress among their children. Parents are expected to be encouraging, understanding and appreciative towards their children rather than expecting outstanding performances.
Experts says that in a competitive world with large number of candidates and few number of seats available, parents have high expectations. This leads to tremendous pressure which goes beyond a certain limit and the insulting comments dent young minds.
Dr Thomas MJ, consultant psychiatrist at Sagar Hospital says, “In this competitive world every one wants to reach the top.
Consequently, parents push their children to perform better. However, parents should be close to realistic situation and should know the capabilities of their children. He further says, “Though any degree of anxiety level produces good results but if anxiety further increase, the performance falls.”
Dr BN Gangadhar, professor of Psychiatry, NIMHANS echoes the same and says, “Monitoring kids is extremely important and critical signs like — reclusiveness, dis-interest in food, any sleep related disorder and anxiety should be looked for. They need to be given adequate attention and affection.
Competition, lack of self confidence and negative thinking leads to stress and high anxiety level among the students. Rather than pushing them hard to perform better, its a time for the parents to tell their kid that failure is not the end of the road and nor is it a matter of life and death.